A/N:Sorry this chapter took so long but real life managed to kick my butt a lot more than I was expecting. My note about what's been going on is on my profile so I won't rehash it here. I'll try not to give you any more cliffhangers when there's even a slight chance of a delay in posting the next one, I think this has cured me of doing that.
Thank you as always to Bookdragon01 for the quick beta-ing once I managed to get it to her. lol
"Ok, Mom, we'll wait, at least to go searching for the information, but I want to have a look at it now so that we at least know what sort of hacking we're looking at doing," Jim said after exchanging glances with the others as he picked up the PADD again.
"What exactly are you thinking about for tomorrow, Winona?" Pike asked, keeping part of his attention on what Jim was doing.
"I was thinking maybe a little shopping. I brought some knitting needles with me so I'd have something to do in the evenings and I'd thought I'd see about teaching Joanna, if she wanted to learn," Winona answered with a smile at her old friend.
"That sounds good, Winona," McCoy replied, as Jim started swearing under his breath. "What, Jim?"
"Whoever gave this to her set it up so that the security could be activated remotely. They must have figured out something was wrong, and now it's locked up tighter than the old Fort Knox. Unless you enter the correct password in three tries, it locks permanently," he explained, glaring at the PADD in his hands.
"It looks like we will be working together on cracking this tomorrow, Captain," Spock told him taking the PADD when Jim handed it to him. "I believe that between us we should be able to figure out how to bypass the security," he added after looking over what Jim had found. "Disabling the GPS will be the first priority, I believe."
"Ok people, let's head for bed and try and get some sleep. I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a long and busy day," Pike said a minute later. "Jim, give me that PADD, I want to be sure that there's no chance of this bastard slithering out if this because you got itchy. Spock, go get some rest, you've more than earned it."
As Martin placed calls to Carrannelli, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov, the others started getting ready to find their beds. McCoy carried Joanna up, still growling under his breath slightly at the nerve of someone threatening his girl.
"Leonard, do you want me to help you get her changed?" Winona asked as they reach the top of the stairs.
"I wouldn't mind it a bit, Winona," he replied. "Can y'all open the door?" he asked her, suddenly realizing he didn't have a free hand. Winona chuckled softly as she opened the door and followed them in the room.
Jim paused as he returned from the bathroom, suddenly remembering about Scotty's snoring.
"Spock, do you want a pair of earplugs?" he asked rummaging around in his bag of toiletries. "Scotty's right across the hall and I know your hearing's better than mine."
"Thank you for your consideration, Captain. I do not believe I will need them, however if you will leave a pair out in case my initial assessment is inaccurate, I would appreciate it," Spock replied as he finished lighting the small fire pot in the corner. "I hope the light will not disturb you, Captain. I can hang a blanket over the chair if that is the case."
"Don't worry about it, Spock. It's almost like a mini campfire, so it won't bother me," Jim replied, not letting his friend's sudden formality bother him. From what Bones had described about his reaction earlier it was most likely a combination of embarrassment and wariness on Spock's part until he was sure of both his own and everyone's reactions to his loss of control. "Night Spock, and uh good meditating? Sorry, pleasant dreams didn't seem appropriate," he added climbing into bed as Spock finished settling in front of the fire pot.
"Pleasant dreams, Ca- Jim," Spock replied absently a short time later.
A few hours later Spock briefly broke his meditation to refill the incense in his fire pot, as he moved back to his seat the muffled sound of Scotty's snoring briefly got louder, going back to its former level at the sound of a door shutting with slightly more force than 3:00 am demanded. Intrigued Spock stood, cracked open his door, and looked out in time to see Rhymer heading towards the staircase carrying a pillow and blanket. Puzzled, he turned towards Jim's bed but stopped himself. He knew that both of them needed sleep and rest to be able to figure out the PADD tomorrow so he pushed his questions to the back of his mind and returned to his meditation.
The next morning as they met in the kitchen to fix breakfast everyone seemed calmer and rested, until Rhymer wandered in. Winona took one look at the dark circles under the attorney's eyes and poured him a large cup of coffee.
"What happened, Rhymer?" she asked as he took a long drink.
Rhymer sighed and shot a glare at the crew that were there, before replying "I didn't get to sleep last night until I'd moved down stairs at around 3am because of Mr. Scott's snoring," he growled before draining his cup.
"Jim, why didn't you remember about that and do something about it?" Winona demanded, turning to glare at her son.
"Uh, I had other things on my mind, Mom," Jim replied, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry Rhymer, we'd gotten used to his snoring in the back ground at Mom's and I don't think any of us really realized that you'd ended up sharing a room with him," he explained apologetically.
"So it wasn't a prank like you're so well known for?" Rhymer asked looking a bit relieved as he poured himself another cup of coffee.
"Nope, but it would be a pretty good one, or at least a punishment," Jim said with a grin, going back to mixing the batter for French toast.
"Jim, you are not using that as a punishment, at least as long as I'm CMO on the ship," McCoy growled at Jim.
"Hey, I was joking, Bones, calm down. We'll see about finding you another bed tonight, Rhymer. So don't worry about it," Jim said still smirking at the thought of listening to Scotty's snoring being a punishment. "Admiral, are there any regs that say we can't record him and use it against some of the renegades and idiots we deal with out there?"
"Not specifically I don't think, Jim, but I'm not sure I'd want to try it to find out," Pike replied, chuckling at the idea of using snoring to win a battle. "Though with your luck who knows," he added, remembering some of the unorthodox methods that had worked for this crew.
"Well I'll keep it in mind for future reference then," Jim replied with a grin.
"I am not entirely certain how snoring, even Mr. Scott's, could be deemed a weapon," Spock said, looking up from the fruit he was slicing for Uhura to put in her fruit salad.
"It's more of a psychological weapon, Spock. Can you imagine havin' to listen to Scotty's snorin' played on a loop over an intercom for hours, with no way to turn it off?" McCoy replied from the stove where he was stirring a pot of grits.
"I believe I understand, Doctor. I cannot think that would be a pleasant fate for any being," Spock replied, with a Vulcan smile at the thought.
Once everyone was down stairs they quickly finished cooking and ate at the large kitchen table. The table wasn't actually big enough for the whole group but with Lewis, who was finishing his shift, and Carrannelli, who was just starting his, sitting at the security station in the kitchen they managed fairly well.
After cleaning up, the ladies, along with Joanna, finished getting ready to go shopping. As they waited for them, McCoy pulled Jim aside.
"Look, Jim, let me know what you find. I need to know who this bastard is," he told Jim quietly.
"I will, Bones, as soon as we get a name. Just promise me that you won't go off half cocked when we do," Jim replied with a worried look at his friend. "If you need to do something I'll spar with you, hell I'll probably need to blow off steam as much as you," he added laying a hand on Bones' shoulder.
"Alright, Jim," McCoy replied as the ladies and Lewis joined them by the door. Lewis would be going with them to act as security; he was as alert as the rest of them, even after a sleepless night, courtesy of a mild stimulant from McCoy.
After they left, Jim turned to the others, "Ok guys let's get this bastard," he said as he headed for the office.
"Just a minute, Jim," Pike said. "We'd better cover all our bases with this, so before we start we need to call at least Captain, - oh what's her name?-"
"Logan," Rhymer supplied.
Logan, and possibly the Atlanta DA's office to let Mr. Burger know what's going on, they may want to have someone here to observe. Thanks John." Pike finished.
"It is a sound idea, Captain, I believe that we can finish preparing for all the possible problems in the time we wait," Spock added, seeing Jim's impatience at the delay as Rhymer headed for the comm. station in the office.
"What are you talking about, Spock?" Jim asked.
"I realized last night that there was a small probability that our resources here might prove insufficient. I propose contacting the Enterprise, specifically Lt Cmdr Giotto and having any of our files that might be of assistance sent to our location," Spock explained.
"Alright, Spock, it's a good idea. Guys make a list of any hacking, password location, decryption, or bypassing programs you have on the ship, or at HQ, Admiral, and I'll talk to Giotto about sending them here," Jim said, passing a PADD around. Within five minutes he had the rather impressive list, and was waiting for Rhymer to finish his calls.
When Rhymer stepped out of the office Jim ducked passed him with a muttered apology. "What was that all about, Chris?" Rhymer asked, glancing back into the office as he joined the others in the library.
"Jim's making a call to Sam Giotto and having him send some files that might make it easier to get around the security on Joanna's PADD," Pike replied, shifting slightly in his seat. "So what did you find out?"
"Both Captain Logan and ADA Burger are on their way over to 'observe'. They should be here in twenty minutes or so, they think," Rhymer replied sitting down in the chair opposite Pike.
"Morning, Chief. I'm sorry to call so early," Jim said when Giotto picked up, looking like he was on his way out the door, with a small satchel over his shoulder.
"You just caught me, Captain. What can I do for you?" Giotto replied easily, shifting the satchel strap slightly.
"I'm sending you a list of files we need you to send us, Chief," Jim replied as he hit the send button on his PADD. "We, well Spock, found out that someone threatened Joanna. But everything's on a PADD that suddenly has some pretty tight security on it. So we need all the hacking and password programs we can get. These are just the ones that those of us here have, and that's not all of us. Bones, Chapel, and Uhura are out with my mom and Joanna shopping right now," Jim explained and watched Giotto's eyes flare with anger for a moment before becoming calculating as he read over the list.
"Captain, I've got a few that might help too, if you don't mind," he said, a definite hint of steel in his voice.
"Add whatever you think might help. If you want, I think we can patch you in on the mobile screen Martin found in the security room," Jim offered, once again glad that Giotto was on his side when he got that look in his eyes.
"Not unless you hit a wall, Sir. This is Martin's gig, and I trust him to act appropriately about whatever you find," Giotto replied, the subtle emphasis was not lost on Jim. Kids were one of the Chief's few hang-ups that Jim knew about; he hid it well but after two years Jim was getting better at reading him, though his Chief of Security was nearly as hard to read as Spock at times.
"Understood, Chief; we'll keep you informed on what we find," Jim assured him. "I know it's serious, Spock just about lost it after he did a mind meld with Joanna to get the info. Turns out Donavan's been threatening JoJo, for months, claiming that she wouldn't see Bones again if anything stopped the wedding or him adopting her. Between that information and whatever he saw of her night terrors he almost reacted like two years ago on the bridge," Jim explained grimly. Giotto nodded, he hadn't seen the fight but he'd heard about it from Martin during his first report after Giotto woke up in the Medbay on the way back to Earth.
As Giotto accessed the files, he filled Jim in on the state of the ship and the crew. Everything was running smoothly and so far the media hadn't bothered them, though Giotto had heard from some friends of his in Base Security, that there had been a few reporters 'escorted' off Starfleet grounds late yesterday afternoon.
Ten minutes later they signed off and Jim looked over the files, still impressed that his friends and crew even had some of them at all.
"Alright guys, I've got the files. Martin, the Chief added a few of his own when he heard what was going on, so I'll give them to you," Jim said sending the files to the others' PADDs as the gate buzzer sounded.
ADA Burger was in his forties, though the lines in his face made him seem older and lent a cragginess that added a measure of sternness to the reserved manner that was reflected in his dark eyes. "Good morning everyone," he said as he followed Captain Logan into the library.
"I'm glad you made it so quickly, and I'm sorry we had to get you out on a Sunday," Rhymer replied standing up and shaking their hands and quickly introduced Pike and the Enterprise crew.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you gentlemen," Burger replied shaking hands with the humans and exchanging nods with Spock. "These cases are a challenge in themselves so I was already almost to my office when you called," he explained as Logan nodded beside him.
"I think I can say the same thing, Mr. Burger. And John's talked about the help you've given him with this case," Pike said leading the way into the dining room.
"Is this the PADD?" Burger asked as they settled around the table, eyeing the device curiously.
"Yes, as far as we can tell from the passive scans we've performed it has been disabled from monitoring us either through video or audio," Spock replied.
"How did you manage to do that?" Logan inquired looking over Burger's shoulder at the PADD curiously, particularly at the stylus sticking out of the camera and the slightly damaged case where the mic had been.
"Well when I was told it might be monitoring us, I stuck the stylus in the mic and camera. Then I couldn't get the stylus out without possibly damaging the whole thing," Jim explained with a shrug. "Dr McCoy and Joanna are family as far as I'm concerned and it was easier than trying to isolate the thing," he finished as the others murmured their agreement.
"Alright let's get to work, everyone," Pike reminded them. "We can continue this conversation while we're finding this bastard." Within a few minutes they were busy running programs, talk about the PADD interspersed with stories from the ship.
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McCoy was a bit out of sorts at getting dragged on the shopping trip while the others worked out who was behind the mess. 'It could be worse, they could be clothes shoppin',' he reminded himself, watching Winona showing his daughter about yarns and needles. Joanna would glance back at him every few minutes to make sure he was still there and each time it made his heart clench a bit that she thought that he'd disappear on her.
McCoy couldn't remember the last time he'd been in a craft store, probably not since he was a kid with his Grandmother. There were craft items from at least six different planets that he could recognize and probably stuff from at least that many he didn't recognize in their disassembled state. So he found it slightly more interesting than he normally would have but it was still shopping.
He breathed a sigh of relief when Winona sent Lewis to find Uhura and Christine. 'Thank God, this is almost over,' he thought as they headed for the checkout.
As they finished loading their bags in the car, McCoy's communicator chimed. "M-Leonard," he answered it, remembering at the last second not to use his last name as Winona shut the back hatch.
"Bones, we've got some new info you need to know, so get back here," Jim said a bit too quickly, making McCoy suspicious. Jim only talked that fast when he was trying to distract someone.
"What about the bastard's name, Jim?" McCoy snarled back, baffled by Jim's attitude.
"Yeah we got it, but this is more important," Jim replied sounding both tense and nervous. "Bones trust me, please. Rhymer got the last of his reports back; and even I wasn't expecting this, but it's all connected," he added, his frustration breaking through.
"Jim, you damn well better be ready to explain that, or you sure as hell won't enjoy your next visit to Medbay," McCoy growled back, still annoyed but realizing that if Rhymer's information was connected somehow then it was no wonder Jim was acting jumpy and frustrated.
"I know Bones, you say that all the time. I'll see you when you get back," Jim said, relieved that his friend had given in as easily as he had.
"You bet you will, Jim," McCoy replied rolling his eyes slightly Jim's statement.
"Drive safe, K-Jim out."
"Get in Leonard, the sooner we get there the sooner we find out what's going on," Winona said, nudging him towards the car door.
"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. With Jim actin' the way he is, 'the shit's 'bout to hit the fan', is the best description of what's gonna happen next," he said shaking his head. "I've had plenty of experience with that particular phenomenon, and it's never good."
"I don't imagine it is, Jim's like George, in that he rarely looks before he leaps, when something's important to him," Winona assured him with a slightly sad smile as they got in.
"That is what worries me whenever the Kid's off the ship," McCoy replied dryly, as Lewis headed back to the house.
Jim was waiting on the porch as they pulled up. "Hey guys," he called as they got out.
"Uncle Jim, Nana got me some yarn, and I'm gonna make you somethin'," Joanna called as she hurried over to hug him.
"Thank you ahead of time, JoJo," Jim replied following her back to the car to help unload the bags. "Bones, Rhymer says he needs to talk with you in the sun room," he added both as a reminder and so Joanna wouldn't freak out when he wasn't right there.
"I'll be right there as soon as we get all this in the house," McCoy replied.
Once the bags were inside and sorted, Winona settled on the couch and started giving Joanna her first knitting lesson while Christine and Uhura looked through what they had before starting on their own projects.
"Jo, I'll be in the sun room if y'all need me," McCoy said smiling at the rapt expression on her face as she listened to Winona's explanation of knitting. It looked like trying to tie two straight pieces of metal together in the dark to him.
"Ok, Daddy, I'll see ya soon," Joanna replied giving him a quick smile before turning back to her lesson.
"Jim you'd better start explainin' how a threat against Jo and Rhymer's final report are connected. And why the name of the bastard isn't important anymore," McCoy growled as they walked through the second set of doors and into the slightly humid sunroom.
"Calm down, Bones, please. It isn't important because the person who sent the message is the same one named in the report," Jim said calmly.
"What?" McCoy bellowed in surprise.
"Jim is correct, Doctor," Spock said, drawing McCoy's attention to the fact that the rest of the group was waiting for them. "We managed to break the security on the PADD and traced the source of the communication that terrified Joanna. At the same time Lt Cmdr Rhymer received the final report from his contact that contained the connection with the same individual responsible for her fright," he continued evenly though McCoy could hear the slight tension in his tone.
"Here, McCoy read this," Pike said coming forward and handing over a PADD. McCoy quickly read through it his scowl darkening the farther he read.
"That goddamn son of a bitch!" he yelled reflexively drawing back to throw the PADD. Jim grabbed it before he could launch it through the nearest window but his friend didn't seem to notice as he continued his rant against the parentage, personal habits, and morals of the man responsible.
Jim and most of the crew took the doctor's outburst in stride, though some of his more creative epithets caused a few surprised looks and made Chekov blush. Spock on the other hand was shocked at the sheer volume of the doctor's vocabulary; he'd been on the receiving end of more than one of the doctor's rants over the last two years and thought that he'd heard the whole of his supply of epithets and insults. Now it appeared that not only had he underestimated the doctor's vocabulary, but he also seemed to have misunderstood the motive behind many of the outbursts he'd been the target of. There had never been any of the sheer vindictiveness in the doctor's tone that there was in his current rant when he insulted Spock. Spock's eyebrows rose in shock at the physically impossible description of the manner of the subject of his rage's conception, which the Doctor delivered in accented but understandable Andorian. Jim just chuckled at the image that the phrase caused to cross his mind, and leaned closer to Spock
"Didn't know he could do that?" he asked softly, taking in Spock's expression.
"I did not, Captain. It also appears that I have been in error as to his motives in his frequent insults towards myself, if this demonstration is any indicator," Spock replied.
"He's just messing with you, Spock. If he didn't like you he wouldn't do it," Jim said. "It's the way he deals with worry."
"Facinating."
"Isn't it," Jim said before raising his voice. "Bones, we get the idea. I think we need to move on to what we're gonna do about the bastard, instead of insulting him in as many languages as we know. If you want to do that, let me call Uhura in, she'll have you beat."
"Damnit, Jim, this is my daughter we're talkin' 'bout here," McCoy snarled, taking a deep breath.
"We know, McCoy. That's why we're here, to figure out how we're going to handle this," Pike replied. While he didn't have any kids of his own, after both being captain and working at the Academy, he could understand McCoy's fury.
"That was an interesting display, Doctor," Burger said with a smile as McCoy sat down. "ADA William Burger," he added offering his hand.
"Good to meet you," McCoy replied as they shook hands, taking a quick measure of the man. Burger was roughly Rhymer's age and height, dark haired and eyed, with a stern appearance and an assessing look in his eyes. For some reason, he reminded McCoy of an old bulldog that his grandfather had had when he was a kid. Once that dog had got a hold of something you'd had an awful time getting him to turn it loose.
The next hour was spent going over the aspects of the case that had changed with the new evidence, and how to proceed. It was quickly decided to arrest him quietly and keep him incommunicado until the trial, as well as to outfit him with surveillance equipment just in case he tried anything. As Captain Logan was about to leave to oversee the arrest, Winona called them to lunch.
Lunch turned out to be a bit of a working meal, since Captain Logan's and Mr. Burger's PADDs kept going off with reports and info on the case. Talk was kept off the trials because of Joanna, who was quieter than normal, but she was still involved in the conversations about knitting with Winona and Uhura.
Before they left, Logan pulled McCoy aside. "I wanted to let you know that you're doin' a wonderful job with her, Doctor. I was a bit surprised at how the others interacted with her at first, but I can see how much of a family y'all are after today. That in and of itself is an achievement, makin' so many different personalities into so close a group, but it will only help you both in the long run," she said. "You keep doin' what you're doin'."
"I plan on it, Captain," McCoy assured her with a glance back at Joanna already sitting in the living room messing with her knitting needles. "She's the only good thing I've got from before I joined Starfleet."