The Bust
For all the buildup, the meeting barely lasted ten minutes. John and his men patted everyone down with tricorders while Dan and Force Recon covered the building, a blown-out shopping mall in a dead city on Charon V. Aki didn't say a word in protest, he's far too professional for that. Once everyone was cleared, John and Aki stepped inside a sealed room. Ten minutes later, they came out again. I asked a hundred questions an hour, but Aki calmed me down and went through them one by one.
"Yes. I'm satisfied with the evidence presented. I've authenticated everything personally. The implications are… disturbing, to say the least, but it's clear to me now that we were mistaken about Blackjack, and that he needs to be stopped. Fed-Sec will have Starfleet's complete support in their investigation, and in bringing this criminal in to face justice."
I kept asking questions, but Aki just kept smiling.
"To say that we've wronged the Marines is also an understatement. Blackjack, and by extension Starfleet, has clearly broken their trust. It's going to take a long time to earn that trust again, if we ever do. The responsibility of that falls on me, both for the cause and the solution."
"Blackjack will be brought to justice. I've issued a recall order to which he has obviously not responded, but Captain Markstrom is confident that she can track the McKenzie's transponder code. Shouldn't take very long."
Aki put his hand on my shoulder with his next answer, putting on a sad look that I could only respond to with a hug. "Kirin, I apologize for lashing out earlier and threatening to revoke your press credentials. I was only thinking of the service, but that doesn't excuse my rude comments to you. Can you forgive a foolish old man for his quick tongue and slow mind?"
Of course I could. But I almost lost it again when I asked him my final question. "I made a promise that I wouldn't reveal anything, so I can't tell you anything further about the Source. I will say however, that individual's identity was rather surprising, though as I considered the matter further, I realize now that it really shouldn't have been such a surprise. The Source is a friend. That's all I can tell you, Kirin-chan."
I had to let go of my irritation. Once everything was set up, it took 72 hours to track down Blackjack. Once his crimes had been made public, the Klingon connections he'd built dried up. He had nowhere to run. Aki pilfered the USS Sovereign to chase him down to his last hiding spot, some M-class moon a little way past Tammeria. He had a really nice lake-side cabin, but surprisingly, no defences or goons protecting.
Dan wasn't willing to gamble anything. 300 Marines from the 5th Mechs landed on the moon, coordinated by John in the lead vehicle. Blackjack's house was completely surrounded by hundreds of armed, pissed off Marines. He refused to come out, so Dan ordered a squad in to drag him out. I'd guessed that they took the time to put the boots to Blackjack, as the squad dragged him out ten minutes later, and the Admiral's uniform was torn to shreds and drenched in blood.
"He fell down the stairs," one of the Marines explained when I asked what happened. It was supposed to make us laugh, but Dan had that deadly cold icy look on his face when he stepped out of his Lynx.
"Stand that piece of shit over here," Dan ordered, pointing to a spot next to a tall spruce tree. The Squad dragged Blackjack over to the tree, cut his snap-cuffs loose, and handed him an empty phaser. Dan then raised his rifle. "The target was encountered with a type 8 hand phaser. FMC-ROE states that armed hostiles can be freely engaged with lethal force. Your last words, Admiral?"
John ran over as fast as he could and stood between Dan's rifle and Blackjack's face. "What are you doing Dan?! This isn't the mission!"
"If you think for one second I'm letting him off this moon alive, you are very sadly mistaken John. Clear the line of fire!" Dan ordered.
"If we do this, we do this the right way. Stand down Marine!" John shouted back.
I'll give both men their credit. John was every part of the brave cop that one could ever expect from Fed-Sec. Alone, with no backup, wearing only his jacket and a golf shirt, armed with little more than a hand phaser, standing inches away from Dan's rifle, and just feet away from a hundred more rifles.
And Dan? A consummate professional if nothing else. There wasn't an ounce of malice or fear in his voice. And a few seconds later, when he lowered his rifle, all of his fellow Marines did likewise. John re-applied the snap cuffs, and I was just starting to think it was all over. Then, Aki beamed down from the Sovereign with a pair of ordinary Security Officers. He smiled at John, smiled at the Marines, and then spoke words what would have sent both groups into homicidal fury.
"Thank you, gentlemen. I'll take him from here.
The words that John, Dan, and the Marines said next aren't fit for print, so I'll summarize what happened next. I walked over and said to my beloved Aki-Ojisan. "What the hell are you doing?"
"If nothing else, Ashcroft is a Starfleet Officer. It is Starfleet that has been wronged, and it is in a Starfleet Court Martial that Ashcroft will face justice. That is my final word."
Aki beamed away with his prisoner, and that was it. Or so we all thought.
─•~:~•─
