A/N - Sorry for the unreasonably long wait! I have a very large family who all go insane at Christmas time so I've been very busy. Hopefully I can start updating regularly again now, though.
Hope everyone had a great holiday and all the best for the New Year!
Scenario completed. Success rate: 97%. Combat simulator disengaging.
Sweating heavily and with adrenaline still pumping through his veins, Timothy stepped out of the large white dome and was not at all surprised to find himself face-to-face with Kinoan.
He had stormed from the alien's office shortly after Kinoan made his declaration, knowing he was unable to countermand the order and far too angry to make a coherent argument. Finding no release in pacing the corridors, he headed to the Exercise Deck to vent his frustration in the Combat Simulators (Mark 2).
These were remarkable machines that had only just been introduced during his basic training and installed on all sizeable defence stations. They were mostly used, here on the Lunar Orbiter, by soldiers recovering from injuries or those who were not in a combat unit at the moment but wanted to stay prepared.
Simulators of this type were not uncommon, but the Mark 2s were very advanced and very effective. The machines recorded the performance of every user on one 'network' and used the data to provide each individual with a full unit which behaved a lot more sentiently than a pure computer programme could. The settings were automatically tailored to rank and role and got progressively harder as the user gained more experience. This provided scenarios that were a lot more realistic than any other model could achieve.
It was the closest you could get to actually being in battle and the adrenaline coursing through Timothy's body was very, very real.
"You'll have no trouble assimilating to combat again." Kinoan said as Timothy stopped in front of him, scowling again. He had watched the last few minutes of Timothy's session on the small screen on the door of the simulator.
"They're good," Timothy said gruffly. "But nothing like actually being there."
"Still, 97% is remarkable."
"What do you want?" Timothy demanded.
"To talk." Kinoan said levelly. His calmness infuriated Timothy even further. "Somewhere we will not be interrupted."
Without waiting for Timothy to speak, Kinoan pushed open the door of one of the Review rooms and stood back to allow Timothy in. He hesitated for a moment, not at all sure he wanted to speak to the alien. A small, niggling voice in the back of Timothy's head was already sternly informing him he had acted like a ... well, like Harriet, and he didn't want that voice proven right.
But Kinoan was, after all was said and done, Timothy's closest friend and had never done him wrong before. He was older and wiser and if Timothy was not willing to learn from such a man, he would never be the General everyone already thought he was.
He stepped through the door and sank onto one of the hard-backed chairs. It was an enclosed space with just enough room for two people and a computer. Training soldiers and their commanders used these booths to watch recordings of the Simulator sessions and discuss them.
Kinoan took a seat.
"You are protective of your friends, I understand that." He began, but Timothy cut him off.
"They're my family, Kinoan, more than just co-workers." Timothy sighed. He felt tired. "They're civilians and it's my job to protect them."
"No." Kinoan's firm, no-nonsense tone was very familiar to Timothy. "Your job is, first and foremost to protect Earth and this galaxy as a whole. As hard as it may be to hear, the individuals do not matter. They cannot."
"It's not that simple." Timothy bit out. He understood the concept Kinoan was trying to get across very well, but he didn't like it. It was remarkable how something he had always seen as cut-and-dry - protection of the whole over the few - now seemed an impossible decision. He had never been this emotionally invested before and the hard kernel from which he drew the strength he needed in combat cursed him for that weakness.
"I know. Caring is not a weakness, Timothy, and you should not be ashamed of it." Kinoan gave him a knowing look.
"Can you read minds or something?" Timothy exclaimed, only half-irritated.
Kinoan smiled slightly. "It takes strength to allow yourself to care again, once you know what danger there is. I was very glad to find you had friends."
Timothy said nothing, instead burying his face in his hands to avoid looking at the man. Kinoan continued.
"If you send your friends back to Earth they will be in danger and they will put the whole planet in danger as well." Timothy looked up quickly. The twist in his gut told him he had been waiting for this pronouncement. This was the thought he had been trying not to let himself think.
"Our enemy may attempt to capture them again in a far more destructive way. We can protect them on the Orbiter far better than if they were on Earth."
Timothy couldn't deny the truth of this, however much he wanted to. For as long as they did not know why their enemy had targeted the team, or who their enemy was, sending his friends back to Earth would be foolish. He had known this from the moment they appeared on the floor of the Command Room but had searched desperately for a way out of it.
Timothy knew his team very well; far better than they knew him. He knew that they would not be content to watch, sidelined, while war waged around them and he threw himself into the path of danger.
"They won't be happy just staying onboard the Orbiter, Kinoan." He said heavily. "They will want to fight but they cannot be allowed ... this is too far out of their experiences. They aren't prepared for all of this!"
Timothy's expansive gesture was somewhat ineffective, encompassing a small and slightly shabby room whose only nod to its location was the computer, which didn't look too far in advance of standard Earth tech.
"Tell me about them," Kinoan set, sitting back in his chair and relaxing slightly now that he knew Timothy had come around. "Perhaps we can find jobs for them that will be useful but not put them in danger. As Harriet might say, you will not perform to the best of your abilities if you are distracted."
"Ducky and Palmer could probably go to the Hospital Deck." Timothy said thoughtfully after a few minutes. Kinoan was right; if he could find positions for the team onboard the Orbiter, they would be as safe as it was possible to be. "But they're medical examiners, more used to doing autopsies."
"The Medical Deck performs autopsies."
"It does?" Timothy frowned, surprised.
"Not often, but it happens every now and again and I am sure Doctor Gorcheva would be happy to have a full-time medical examiner." Kinoan smiled again, wider this time, at Timothy's surprise. "It is my job to know the inner workings of this ship and your job to make sure autopsies remain infrequent."
Timothy nodded. He had never had the time, or reason, to find out everything about the other branches of Stars. "I'm not sure about Abby."
"The forensic scientist?"
Timothy rolled his eyes. He wasn't surprised to find Kinoan had already done the research. "She's good with computers but I'm better and even I couldn't get to grips with the stuff in the radio room."
"No reason not to give her a try." Kinoan said, shrugging. Timothy grinned; the shrug was not part of Joscial Ax culture and was something Kinoan had picked up from Timothy somewhere during their long friendship. This went both ways - Timothy had picked up several mannerisms from the alien, especially in his way of speaking.
"We do not know how long this conflict will last. Perhaps, given time and careful tutelage, she will become proficient enough to run a console."
"It'll keep her busy at any rate." Timothy agreed. "If I know Abby, she'll love it."
"Now, the other three ... Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David, am I correct?"
"Yes." Timothy groaned to himself. He had the sneaking suspicion that Gibbs, Tony and Ziva would not be happy to be given jobs onboard the Orbiter. They were not the kind of people who shied away from action and danger.
They were not the kind of team who would be happy to allow one of their members to go marching off too war while they stayed behind, safe but useless.