"Random Acts of Violence"

[Kansas_Jones 0]

Note: this log takes place fifteen minutes after the end of the 06.25.08 sim, some mature language.

06.26.08

USS Agincourt NCC-81762

“Random Acts of Violence”

 

Tell my Mother I died for my country, I did what I thought was best.

- John Wilkes Booth

 

Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.

- Bertrand Russell

 

= = = = = =

 

A small group of officers stood and waited patiently for the Marine escort team to pass by with their charge in tow: the Secretary of State and her staff members. Not that the gathered crewmembers could do anything but wait, mind you. One of the security teams assigned to patrol the corridors surrounding the VIP quarters blocked any further movement until the group had passed and was settled.

 

The detained crew members just had the unfortunate luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and would soon be able to continue their various duties or errands. Most of them understood the need for the security precautions and waited quietly, with their murmured conversations and curious looks toward the secretary constituting a normal reaction.

 

There was one crewmember, physically showing the same outward signs of curiosity or impatience at the delay, but their light brown eyes showed another emotion entirely: hatred. The brown eyes followed every movement of the blue skinned Bolian secretary of state as she was whisked down the corridor by the marine guard escort. Even as the dark eyes visually processed the whole scene, the crewmember’s mental thoughts were dark and foreboding.

 

Why should that Bolian government bitch be allowed to walk around like she owns the ship. So many Terrans were lost in that alien attack on Earth. They were alien attackers. And this ship is crawling with aliens just like them. How do we know they won’t turn on all of us?

 

My mother, grandfather, and my brother in law are dead. My sister is left alone with three kids, and her home was leveled in the attack. My father is half out of his mind with grief, and spends all day drinking if he manages to get his hands on some booze.

 

And these aliens got to walk around, and so many Terrans were dead.

 

He knew that assassinations had been done throughout history, and some had even been successful. He had always thought that an ancestor of his who committed such an act had been morally corrupt, but perhaps he had been wrong with his opinion. It was an easy enough feat to accomplish when you really thought about it. And the man could not work beyond his hatred.

 

Bitch.

 

= = = = = =

 

Kansas JoNs came padding around a bend in a side auxiliary corridor, speaking in low purrs over her communicator badge to the security guards stationed outside the VIP quarters. One of the guards confirmed that the secretary and her staff and the marine escort had come within visual range, and the Caitian felt a load lift from her shoulders. Now, she just had to check in with the two teams that were on patrol in these outer corridors. She planned on checking in with the team who currently held some officers in one of the side corridors adjacent to her current position.

 

The feline rounded another bend and visually locked onto the two security grunts that had been assigned to patrol the section, and gave them a friendly nod in greeting. The crewmembers they had detained were waiting patiently, but she could tell they were getting fidgety by their stance and body language. One of them she recognized as a new transfer to her department.

 

She stood upright on her hind paws and offered a small smile to both her guards and the way ward officers. “Thanks for keeping the main corridor cleared guys. And as for you lot, you know that these corridors were going to be under guard, so you need to find another short cut for the time being. You can go on your way now.”

 

= = = = = =

 

Something snapped in Crewman John Holmes at that point. He had been fine among the humans. The two guards who had temporarily blocked the corridor were human, and the officers from security, medical, and engineering who had been waiting with Holmes were human as well.

 

The cat just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Out of the command crew and the command line officers, JoNs was considered to be one of the most exotic and alien looking with the exception of the shadow thing. She was just another alien bitch. The secretary of state was no longer an issue on the radar as John’s reasoning and rational mind just blinked completely out of existence and he allowed the aggressive mind think to go full throttle. Murderous thoughts clouded his judgment and his rage lashed out at the first convenient and reachable target that his eyes latched onto.

 

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. Blood for blood.

 

Holmes screamed and lunged at the feline, bolting past the guards and going for her throat

 

= = = = = =

 

Caitian reflexes not withstanding, and with several witnesses involved as well as three security guards present, the man really had no chance to carry out the attack that he had intended. But, the events were already in motion, and the horrible situation played itself out.

 

JoNs was shocked at the abrupt action, but reacted quickly and brutally to the assault on her person.

 

The feline had been out of sorts since her beating at the hands of the human mercenaries on Earth. She hadn’t shared her feelings with anyone, and she had calmed herself down as best that she could and gone about her duties. She had however taken to carrying a small hideaway disruptor pistol in between her trouser waistline and the small of her back. She had a permit to carry a personal weapon, but it was decidedly not a legal weapon. Fear gripped her heart and chest, and she didn’t want to be hurt again. So, she reacted.

 

The feline second officer managed to sidestep the lunge, and her right paw flew to the hidden holster as she twisted around and her free paw clutched at the crewman’s left shoulder. The retort of the pistol was muffled by the attached silencer in the enclosed space of the corridor, and a plasma stun round impacted squarely with Holmes’s mid back area. He fell face down on the decking, smashing his nose into the unyielding gray plating. The crack of cartilage was noticeable, and a few seconds later blood began leaking from his nose cavity. JoNs slammed back against the nearby bulkhead and sunk down to land on her rump in a moment of delayed shock.

 

The medical officer from the detainee group went into action and scurried over to Holmes, pressing two fingers to his neck in order to check for a pulse. “I’ve got one. Stable enough to move him.”

 

The feline started giving orders immediately, her purred voice sounding strange and distant to her own ears. “Get him to sickbay ensign; authorize site to site internal transport.” She turned her gaze to the new security guard that had been in the little group and spoke to him, “Midshipman, go with them and keep an eye on the perp.” He obediently nodded and went to stand over by the medical officer and her injured charge.

 

The medical ensign tapped at her communicator badge and in a low voice requested a transport for three to the medical bay. They soon shimmered out of existence but JoNs hardly noticed the departure as her mind kicked into what she had been trained for and she spoke to the two remaining members of the group that had been detained. “You all are free to go about your duties, but make yourselves available, as I’m sure there will be some investigative questions for you later.”

 

The feline handed her hideaway disruptor pistol to one of the remaining corridor guards. “Hold that. It’s evidence.”

 

Her conscience was going full blast, saying the same mental statement over and over - You shot him in the back like a coward, you shot him in the back like a coward – and Kansas pushed down the litany with a vicious mental shove. Her own thoughts were a confused and hurt jumble of emotions.

 

Still sitting on the decking and feeling weary beyond her years, the feline second officer swiped a paw at her communicator badge, “Bridge, this is Commander JoNs. The sensors didn’t record the discharge, but I just discharged a hideaway disruptor on board. The secretary and her party are safe, but there was an incident here in the VIP adjacent auxiliary corridor … “