Chapter Two: A Dangerous Man
"Lieutenant McGivers." Marla told the woman at the front desk of the archives. The blonde with the short bob and bored gray eyes wasn't familiar to the young woman. She looked around Marla's age, early thirties or late twenties. The woman looked down at her computer screen. Marla went on her toes. "Marla McGivers. Dr. Marla McGivers. Admiral Marcus asked for me. By name." She seemed smug in her response which didn't seem to impress the young lady, but simply allowed her to roll her eyes.
"Section 31 clearance, Doctor." The blonde smiled with as much pose as she could before handing the woman a scan card.
Marla just nodded her head before heading for the elevator. The archives seemed supremely empty that morning. Nobody rushed in and out like Marla had once seen. She had spent nearly every waking moment here as a child when her father worked late nights rearranging data for Starfleet. He'd place her by his side as she read books on tyrants with only one name hoping someday to witness something interesting at the archives.
Today she was becoming a part of something amazing, but a terrible thought in her mind rang. Maybe this wasn't for something amazing. Maybe the admiral was doing something routine. However Admiral Alexander Marcus was someone of high authority who would not waste his time on a historian unless it was for a higher purpose. She entered the elevator alone scanning her card below the touch screen buttons. The purple lights took in the card's signature.
Instead of going up as expected the elevator took a steady downward plunge. Marla lost her balance tumbling to the floor. Her knees hit hard as she grabbed her stomach. A heave of nausea sent her skin crawling. She was glad she had decided to wear the gray uniform complete with slacks. The dress would have scrapped up her already redden worn knees from vomiting so much from her sickness.
She managed to get herself to her feet before the elevator doors slid open. Below the Kelvin Memorial Archives Starfleet bustled. People moved from rooms into the open space Marla exited with force and panic. They shouted out calls as they sped across. She could see a mixture of men and women in an excited state. Many were holding communicators asking hurried questions while others fiddled with instruments on long tables. Marla was in their lair yet nobody noticed the woman with her thinly pulled back red curls and pressed uniform.
"Lieutenant McGivers?" A man with a PAD at his side and a horribly sloppy tone asked. Marla looked to him. He was an oval faced Indian man who seemed to be a bit older then her. He was in a uniform that matched hers. "Or do you prefer Dr. McGivers?"
"Either is fine." She instructed smiling like a fool. Her teeth showed and she wondered suddenly if her breath smelled because the man's head ducked down to his clipboard.
"This way . . ." She could see him think for a moment. "Lieutenant."
Marla decided not to ask questions as they passed long hallways. Her guide gave his clearance through a number of doors. Some guards greeted him as Lieutenant as well. The doctor was glad that they were equally ranked. She was quite tired of dealing with amateurs. She was ready to run with the big boys. At their last door the man stopped looking to her for a moment.
"This is where I leave you, Lieutenant McGivers." She looked confused for a moment before realizing something.
"You don't have clearance."
"Afraid I don't have the privilege." He smiled through closed teeth rocking on his heels. "I'm only to deliver you." Package boy. She hadn't moved up just get.
"Well thank you, Lieutenant." She glanced at his name plate against his chest. "Verma." She walked into the room letting the man disappeared behind her.
Marla suddenly felt the snap of a beaming light turn on. The room became illuminated in white as she noticed where she was. In front of her she could see a wall half made of glass. On the other side of the glass someone sat. A man with a V-neck black shirt sat postured like a true English gentleman. His wrists were cuffed to the table wrapped in restraints binding him to the thick gray table top in front of him.
"Recognize him, Dr. McGivers?" The Admiral made his appearance from a dark corner out the glass where Marla stood.
"Should I, Sir?"
"I would hope so." He smiled standing beside her staring at the man as well. "You devoted an entire section in your book to men like him." She stepped closer to the glass tipping her head with curiosity.
His posture could have been from a strong upbringing, but that posture was military. His body was in peak physical condition. His chest was rising steadily and calmly despite being shackled. She could his feet were held to the table legs. His muscles under his shirt, slacks, and on his arms were reminiscent of Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. He was board in his shoulders like a true warrior. His face was relaxed and tense all at once. Marla could see how simple the beauty there was, yet how complicated he could make his expressions. His makers had selected the best DNA to make men like him. Pictures of these men were rare, but there were some paintings of the Eugeneic Wars.
"Where did you find him?" She stared at the man seated in the interrogation room as his eyes bore into his shackles.
"S.S. Botany Bay, sleeper ship, lost in space." Marla could see Marcus had chosen his words carefully. She was hooked. A living breathing relic was the greatest gift to any historian especially from a time when all history went up in flames.
"You woke him up." She commented finally turning her attention to Marcus.
"We'd like to see what he knows. That period in time is lost Dr. McGivers. You know that better than anyone." Marcus made a good point. Marla McGivers knew everything there was to know about the Eugeneic Wars. Every detail she had stashed in her brain.
"And I am sure you are aware that those men and women nearly destroyed this Earth, Admiral." She was fascinated, yes, but also concerned. That man was dangerous. She wasn't even sure why he still allowed himself to be shackled. Then suddenly it hit her. "And where is the rest of his crew?" Dangerous as a superior being, superior people were fiercely loyal. Marla was quite aware of the habits the creations of genes in body form could inflict when formed into a group. Marcus hadn't explicably stated the man had a crew with him, but Marla could tell.
"We are keeping them safe." Marcus told the young woman. "For everyone's benefit." She doubted this man saw it that way.
"He's not going to like that." Marla whispered looking harder at the man. His patience was exhausting to watch. He had such control and poise to himself.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant?" She turned to her superior to address his concern.
"He will not like you holding his crew. The Augments, were, or are in this case, fiercely loyal. One goes missing and the rest of the crew suffers. No doubt he has asked about his crew was when he awoken." She almost felt sympathy for the man. Despite the fact that the man was highly dangerous he was still human in some shape or form. Starfleet was not one to keep prisoners, but then again Marla never knew the true Starfleet.
"The first words to leave his mouth." Marcus seemed genuinely surprised by the young woman. "We said they were safe. He was transported here yesterday. He's a stubborn young man. Can't get more then yeses and nos out of him."
"Have you threatened his crew yet?" Despite her passive activities over the years Marla knew of war. She knew what men like both Marcus and the Augment responded to.
"Seemed like the best way to get him to talk. That's where we are at." He concluded. "I was hoping you could pick his brain. Ask the right questions." She looked to Marcus then at the Eugeneics soldier. He flexed his knuckles before raising his eyes forward for a minute. She could see blue in those eyes.
"For what?" She wondered watching the captive look down at his knuckles once more. She suddenly was intrigued of living the history of the Eugeneic Wars all over. "If I am to interrogate this man I should know what I am aiming to discover." Marcus hesitated before asking. The older man shifted slightly before spilling the beans.
"Weapons, Lieutenant. We are interested in weaponry for war." She was sure she could ask for more, but Marla was glad for what she had gotten out of him now.
"What makes you so certain he will comply with me, Admiral?" There was the question that had been on the tip of her tongue all morning. Why her? Why a doctor in history in a clearly classified location? Why would a deeply superior being speak to someone who looked like death?
"You are off duty, McGivers. It would be off the records which is something I need." He clarified her suspicions of the interrogation. "You are also the closest and best person in your field of study. You;ll know which questions to ask. You are the best hope we have about learning about John Harrison."
"An alias?" She raised an eyebrow softly.
"For now," He looked to him almost thinking to himself with a smile. "John Harrison. Special Agent John Harrison."
"They had exotic names." She piped in. Marla mused about listing the known tyrants of the sections, but let the thought run out of her head. She needed to be present in that moment.
"Will you interrogate the prisoner or not Lieutenant McGivers?" Marla watched Harrison shift a bit before tilting his pointed chin downwards. His eyes closed. She thought if she looked hard enough she could see his dreams of blood, war, and his men calling out to him in the heat of battle.
"If you can promise my safety Admiral, I can promise you results."