Distorted Reflection

 Episode Name:  Distorted Reflection

   Written By:  Spider

         Cast:  Edwards, Hiroshi, Hurley, Spider, Takamura, 
                Thorne and Valentine.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Eidolon

     Aired On:  Tue Aug 17 02:23:33 2004

     Stardate:  54318.9

Time: Mon Aug 16 19:14:06 2004

Stardate: 54318.2

Hurley is seated on her bunk again, back against the wall, head resting on her knees with arms wrapped around her legs. It's been a long, long day.

Thorne pokes his head through the door, carrying a bowl of Nathan's famed stew. "I brought you some food," he offers softly.

Hurley lifts her head slowly, tiredly, and fixes her gaze on the new arrival. A smile flickers and holds on her lips, then she swings her legs over the edge to retrieve the food. "Thank you," she graciously says while stifling a small yawn. "I hope he's not still fighting with that Leres woman? She seemed.. not very happy with the fact that we're here."

Valentine arrives from another part of the resistance compound.

Valentine has arrived.

Thorne lifts his shoulders in a shrug. "I don't have any idea. I try to keep to myself for the most part." He surrenders the stew and steps back a bit.

Hurley smiles again, murmuring, "Some things will never change." Exhaling, she looks at the stew and stifles another small yawn. "Hey, Tara," she manages to greet at the end of her yawn, "How did practice go? I'm sorry I couldn't make it - I should probably hunt down Tak or see if Lieutenant Stewart is available..." Looking back to Thorne, she explains, "Target practice. Some of us rarely get out of Operations enough to actually shoot anything."

Valentine glances up, coming out of a reverie, as she hears her name called. After a hesitant second, she turns to head toward the table, sliding onto a seat. "Well, I murdered a bird. On the other hand, I also managed to hit a few targets, by some miracle. Evening, Mr. Thorne," she nods to him. "And, um, Lt. Stewart is semi-permanently unavailable for a while."

Hurley levels a very even gaze at Valentine, smile completely gone. "*What* did you do to him?"

Thorne raises an eyebrow and leans back against a wall. "Target practice." What he's referring to isn't terribly clear.

. o O Thorne thinks "Maybe she shot him."

Valentine's shoulders drop and she sighs. "It's bad enough that /he/ doesn't trust me, Chris." She sends a quick smirk in Thorne's direction. "Stewart put himself in medical stasis in the shuttle til we need him, to save both him and us aggravation."

. o O Valentine thinks "Or, in other words, he's avoiding the problem instead of trying to /fix/ it."

"And the Commander /let/ him?" Hurley asks, eyes widening and spoon of stew she was digging up dropping back to the bowl. "Oh good lord. You know, it's no wonder that Starfleet and Timefleet can't work together on the station. Here we are and can't even..." she stops, her eyes moving back to Thorne and she suddenly changes the subject. "Maybe you could help us? I mean, only if you want, of course, and only if.. well, others are busy, well, maybe it's not a good idea, but I thought we could.. hmm, nevermind."

The other eyebrow on Thorne's face lifts. "Maybe I could help you do... what?"

Valentine leans forward slightly, arms folded on the table. "I suspect the Commander doesn't know, actually. Hmmm. I should probably tell him." She pauses, glancing toward Thorne then giving Chris a curious look.

Hurley responds to Thorne, "Target practice," then looks back to Valentine, "You'd better let me talk to the Commander. I.. don't exactly have a ... history ... with Lieutenant Stewart. How did you find out? Did he tell you?"

Thorne snorts. "I'm an engineer, not a... commando, or whatever."

Valentine shakes her head. "Hiro told me." She grins abruptly. "Oh my my my. You don't think the Commander would jump to the same conclusion you did, do you? Chris, you can /not/ deprive me of the pleasure of informing him in my own unique way."

"That's exactly *why* I should do it," Hurley explains softly, trying to be polite while sliding into a chair herself. "*I* don't take pleasure in informing him of this - it has nothing to do with the Commander blaming you; it's because I'm concerned the Commander's going to realize you're rather.. pleased.. with this." She glances to Thorne, flashes a quick, sweet smile at him and comments in her second conversation. "But, you're still probably better with a weapon than I am, but if you don't want to, that's fine. We have very fine security officers with us."

. o O Hurley thinks "Sometimes not at all mentally stable, but at least they shoot well."

Valentine's eyebrows rise. "Pleased? Hardly. I understand his reasons, but I really don't approve of it. C'mon, Chris," she wheedles, "It can be your birthday present to me in lieu of shoes."

Thorne turns into a wall ornament. This really doesn't involve him.

. o O Thorne thinks "Shoes. I'm stuck on a planet with women who want to talk about shoes. I thought that was a myth."

Hurley eyes Valentine, then sighs. "Fine. I'll let you tell Commander Edwards," she resigns, but adds quickly, her finger pointing straight at the other woman, "but you better promise me that you won't enjoy it one bit!"

Valentine grins, rising from her seat to move away a bit. "I promise I won't enjoy Stewart being in stasis one bit." She sighs softly. "He left his clothes on."

Valentine taps her com badge. "Ensign Valentine to Commander Edwards."

Over Valentine's com badge, someone says, "Commander Edwards here."

Thorne blinks. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" This is directed at Valentine.

Into her com badge, Valentine says, "Commander, just wanted to ... standby, sir."

Valentine peers over at Thorne. "What /is/ your problem?"

Hurley tries to give Valentine a stern look, but is startled by Thorne's outcry. Eyes widened, she looks over at the man.

"Turn -that- off. If there's an Alliance ship nearby that can track your signals, we'll -all- die." Randal looks like he's about to shut it off himself if she doesn't comply.

Into her com badge, Valentine sighs. "Commander, please come to the stew room if you're available. Valentine out."

Valentine taps her com badge and terminates transmission.

"Tara," Hurley says, still wide-eyed looking at Randal, "um, honey, let's not use the combadges anymore, mmkay? Yeah. Maybe we can.. put those.. on the shuttlecraft or something."

Thorne swallows. "Let's all just think good thoughts now," he murmurs. "Really good thoughts."

Valentine folds her arm, frowning at the man. "Like they can't pick up the shuttle and its bright, pretty warp core? Not to mention the power it's using at the moment."

Edwards steps out of Grix's Cafe.

Edwards has arrived.

"Power isn't like communications traffic," Hurley says quickly, still watching Randal like he's about to grow another head. "They have to be looking for power - they can be led by com traffic."

"We've got a sensor screen up that makes the shuttle look like a dilithium deposit. I don't know what frequency your equipment operates on, so I can't guarantee that it's masked by the screen," Randal replies. "Better safe than dead, wouldn't you agree?"

Valentine shrugs. "Alright." Though she seems to be agreeing with Hurley more than Thorne.

Edwards comes wandering into the room, pauses just inside the entrance, and glances around at those that are present. "What?" he asks.

Hurley pauses and finally looks away from Thorne, to glance between Edwards and Valentine. After a brief moment of silence, she updates, "We shouldn't use our communicators while here. It upsets the locals. And Tara has something to tell you."

A sigh escapes from Thorne. "Yeah, it upsets the locals," he mutters in reply. Apparently he wasn't too impressed by that remark.

Valentine looks at Thorne for a moment before turning her gaze to Edwards. "Didn't know if you'd been informed that Lieutenant Stewart is unavailable for a while, sir."

. o O Hurley thinks "This is the last time I use Commander Edwards as a travel agent."

. o O Thorne thinks "'Locals'. This 'local' breezed past your security and stole your shuttle. This 'local' overrode your lockout."

. o O Thorne is rather insulted.

"Okay." Edwards replies to the first part, glancing between Hurley and Thorne. Then he turns his attention to Valentine. "What, is he off communing with nature?" he inquires mildly.

Hurley glances to Thorne, then solemly looks back to the stew. "I'm sorry. I'll explain everything to him after I finish eating. I promise."

Valentine shakes her head. "No, he put himself in medical stasis on the shuttle. We're supposed to wake him up when he's needed."

. o O Valentine thinks "Now there's a neat mental image. Stewart communing with squirrels... right before he kills and eats them raw."

Thorne doesn't seem to be terribly impressed by Hurley's promise. All she gets in reply is a non-committal grunt.

"That's..." Edwards starts to muster some frustration, or anger, or something. Then it all just seeps away. "...Wonderful. Just wonderful." He slouches a little. "By the way, I like this tension thing that's going on. Very atmospheric." he comments, eyeing the three.

. o O Hurley thinks "I must smile. I must smile because nobody else is smiling. I must smile because if I don't continue smiling, I'm going to have to force the others to sit through a series of children's songs and holovids. With their eyes propped open. With toothpicks. Or maybe a few hours with a happy, bouncy purple dinosaur will cheer everyone up - or at least make them more appreciative of each other..."

. o O Edwards thinks "What am I going to do with him? Nothing works. I should just have him stay there until we're home."

Hurley closes her eyes, sets her spoon down, and smiles to her stew. Slowly, she turns her face towards Edwards and her eyes open again, equally as slowly. "We cannot use our communicators because it's possible that any Alliance ships in the area could pick up on the communications traffic and follow it here." Glancing to Randal and back to Edwards, she adds, "The frequency may not be masked by the sensor screen in place around this compound."

"My fault, sir," Tara admits. "Everything was fine in here until I used my commbadge."

"If I could get one of those to study," Randal remarks offhand, "I could adjust our sensor mask to compensate."

"Obviously, that means you're going to have to die now, Valentine." Edwards remarks dryly. "Just... give them the frequency." he says, motioning to Hurley. "That shouldn't compromise us any more than we already are."

Hurley, still smiling, looks to her practically uneaten stew, over to Edwards, then to Thorne. "I'll help you with it," she says, setting her spoon down and standing from the table.

"You're hilarious, sir," Valentine notes with a faint smile, returning to her seat at the table. She gives Hurley a wink. "See, he took it well."

"I'll fix it," Thorne replies with a frown. "I don't like other people touching my equipment."

Thorne adds, "All I need is the frequency."

. o O Valentine thinks "And I don't like other people touching my shuttles, but it didn't stop you from hijacking the Baer."

Edwards remarks, "Just call me the peacemaker." That said, he turns and wanders back on out.

"Of course," Hurley responds to Thorne as she looks to her combadge. "Afterall," she adds, still smiling, "we're completely untrustworthy, don't know anything of what we're doing and it's entirely our fault that we're here in the first place." She pauses, cocks her head, and continues smiling to Thorne, "but we can trust you with our frequencies, equipment and lives while we help you save your own people." She catches herself, glances to Edwards and clears her throat. "I'm going to get back to work on the comsys, Sir," looking back to Thorne, she rambles off the frequency and heads for the door.

Valentine glances toward Thorne, and chuckles wryly. "I can relate to that sentiment." She nods after Edwards, then /blinks/ at Hurley.

Thorne, for his part, looks confused. "I'm pretty certain I just said -other- people, not -you- people."

. o O Thorne thinks "I don't even let -Thea- touch my sensor mask."

Edwards heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Edwards has left.

Hurley heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Hurley has left.

Valentine shakes her head a bit, then turns to answer the kidnapping shuttle thief. "It came across badly. Sounded like you meant other people as in anybody but yourself."

"I do mean anyone but myself. I don't let Dana touch that stuff." Thorne shrugs helplessly.

Valentine nods. "No worries, we're just feeling the heat turning up. Y'all have been living with this situation all your lives, I presume. This is something completely new for people like Chris," she gestures after Hurley, "And me."

Thorne settles into a chair. "The Empire did some horrible things," he offers softly. "Things which should have never happened. I think they got what they deserved... but I don't think that people like Thea should be forced to pay for things which happened long before we were born. The Alliance is no better than the Empire was, in the end."

"I agree with you. /Nobody/ should be forced to pay for things that happened long before they were born. Or take the blame for them. And," Tara looks up at him, "Note that I am not trying to start an argument, but that includes us."

Thorne folds his arms over his chest. "I don't hold you responsible personally. Your Starfleet, though... it's their ideals that brought about the fall of the Empire -- at least indirectly. For me, right now -- it's a bad thing, because I have to fight for my freedom now. My mind might change... assuming we win this."

Valentine listens quietly, then nods. "I can understand why you feel that way. I can't say that I agree completely- Starfleet occasionally does good things too," she smiles, "But I can see where you're coming from." She reaches for a cup and pitcher to pour herself some water. "We probably aren't even the best representatives of Starfleet. But I think it says something that at this point we're trying to help you because it's the right thing to do, as much as, and maybe more than, because of the, ah, blackmail factor."

"We do what we have to do to survive," Randal replies softly. "Really, we didn't want any of you to get mixed up in this. It was an accident."

"I know," Tara says quietly, then she chuckles. "It's probably just as well we ended up coming along. Otherwise, next time you came back, I'd have to pull out your fingernails or something for appropriating my shuttle," she winks.

"Oh, the horror," Randal replies with a grimace. "Fingernail pulling."

Valentine considers her fellow engineer. "Well, it's better than the antimatter bath I suggested for the last VME the station had." She takes a drink of water. "She didn't do any work on the shuttles and faked the maintenance reports."

Thorne laughs at that for quite some time.

. o O Thorne thinks "Filling out reports? What would -that- be like?"

"I can't imagine filling out a report for anything. It would... almost be a vacation for me," Randal manages to choke out when he's done laughing enough to speak.

Valentine chuckles, the laughter infectious. "Yeah, well, the situation's a little different back where we come from. Starfleet would grind to a halt without reports. Or, as in that situation, put people's lives in danger. One of the shuttles crashed with a full team aboard. Lucky nobody got killed."

Thorne shakes his head. "I can't imagine why anyone would do something like that," he replies, sobering. "We have a hard enough time keeping people alive around here -- we don't need to get anyone killed because someone slacked on what they were supposed to be doing."

"I don't understand it either," Tara nods. "I may be an inept troublemaker, though hardly inept at making trouble, but never have I slacked when it comes to duty. Made mistakes, yes. Slacked, no." She glances around. "Did y'all move to this base recently?"

Thorne glances around. "We move around a lot. Your definition of recently is probably different than ours -- but to me, we've been here for a while."

. o O Valentine thinks "Oh boy. For all we know, their Jim is right now babbling out the location of this place."

Valentine considers Thorne for a long moment, chewing on her lower lip, then she nods. "We were just talking last night about it being one of the prettier places to hide out that we'd seen. Well, Stewart and Hiro, at least. They're the ones with that sort of experience."

Thorne leans back on two legs of his chair. "Glad you enjoy the view," he replies dryly, although a grin tugs at his lips.

Valentine eyes those twitching lips, her cup pausing halfway to her own mouth. "Ah, why do I have the feeling I've gone and said something dumb again?"

. o O Valentine thinks "Other than the fact that it's par for the course lately."

"You haven't. I just think it's funny, that's all." Thorne can't help but grin now. "I've never really looked around outside."

Stalking into view, Hiroshi drops down next to Thorne wordlessly, and with a vague scowl on his features; he crosses his arms across his chest and stares off into the forest.

Except really he's staring at a wall.

Valentine tilts her head, curious. "Why not?" Spotting the latest arrival, she starts to smile, until she notices the lack of hair. Clearing her throat, she offers a nod in greeting. "Something wrong, uh, Hiro?"

Thorne raises both of his eyebrows as Hiroshi drops next to him. "Good morning, sunshine."

. o O Valentine thinks "Okay, this has now escalated into super ultra weirdness. Wonder if this guy realizes I know precisely what he looks like naked."

"We need to talk," Hiroshi informs Thorne simply, glancing at Valentine and then back at Thorne. "She's not talking. We need to get 'Rana here." Cheerful and /so/ good with the small talk.

. o O Hiroshi thinks "Even if she is a little creepy."

Valentine's eyes narrow a bit. "Rana?" she echoes cautiously.

A shudder runs down Randal's spine, but it's repressed quickly. "Alright," he replies dubiously, ignoring Valentine for the moment. "Where is she?"

. o O Thorne thinks "I really don't like her. She bathes in creepy."

. o O Valentine feels sick abruptly, as a clue by four hits her.

"'Rana." Hiroshi confirms, glancing aside at Thorne. "Last I heard, she was running guns with Minos and Chere. We need to get the comsys up and functional again. You know if we have a project for her she'll /find/ a way to be here in a day or two."

Valentine looks back and forth between the men, then pales a bit. "Uh, guys, you're not talking about a /Ba/rana, are you?" Hiroshi gets a bit of a blink at the names named.

. o O Hiroshi thinks "I hate even having to /see/ her."

. o O Valentine thinks "Chere Poole running guns. Now I /have/ seen everything."

Thorne indicates Valentine with a jerk of his chin. "The subspace transmitter in their shuttle is working. If they'll let me use it, I can get a message to them no sweat." When she says the name Barana, Randal can't help but to shudder again.

Hiroshi confirms nothing, denies nothing. Glances at Valentine, then shakes his head to Thorne's suggestion. "It'll turn us into a beacon. The only way we can do that is to take the shuttle out and away from here. If we can pull the cloak out of our scout, that might actually keep them from noticing the /shuttle./"

Valentine bites her lip. "I don't have the authority to allow you to do that. You'll have to talk to the Commander." She nods at Hiroshi's suggestion hesitantly. "I don't have much expertise in cloaking devices, mind you." Catching Thorne's shudder, she grimaces. "Please tell me y'all aren't talking about doing to our prisoner what I think you're talking about doing to our prisoner."

. o O Hiroshi thinks "... /our/ prisoner?"

"I'm just the guy who keeps the ship running, sweetheart," Thorne replies before pushing himself to his feet. "I'll try working on our comsys first. Moving the cloak'll be a headache that I don't want to think about until I have to think about it."

"Our prisoner. Hm." Hiroshi's voice is flat, his expression completely unimpressed. He rises to his feet, too, and replies, "I'm afraid I can't discuss it any further than I have, and probably should not have said even as much as I have. Excuse us, please."

Valentine stares into her cup. "Yes, our prisoner. We're all in this together, you know." She looks Hiroshi up and down as if she's never seen him before. Or at least, not in this light. "Yeah."

. o O Valentine struggles to hold onto the notion that these are the good guys. "Oh God, bad bad bad bad. The ends does /not/ always justify the means. Torture bad. Psychic rape very very bad. What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?"

Thorne just keeps walking. He's already had about all the bickering and getting shot by angry Starfleet personnel that he can stand.

Turning slowly on his heel, Takamura stares down into Valentine's face. "You're only in this with us until you can escape back to your nice, clean, utopia, Princess, and don't try to tell me or anyone else here otherwise. So spare me." That said, he turns away again, the massive Asian's face set like stone.

. o O Hiroshi thinks "Who does she think she's kidding?"

"/Utopia/?" Tara lets out a bitter laugh. "Yeah, right. Go talk to the millions of humans the Breen killed on Earth last year. Or the Romulans dying in a stupid civil war. Or better yet, the ones killing innocent people with terrorism attacks." She rises abruptly, fingernails digging into the table. "How about the people drafted into-" The engineer cuts herself off, biting her lip. "Look, I realize it's no picnic here, but don't you think for a minute that I'm under the illusion that my home is perfect. It's just that- /home/. The fact that we want to get back there doesn't change the fact that we are going to be risking our necks to help /you/."

Pausing just before he exits, Thorne looks back over his shoulder, hesitates for a moment, then exits.

. o O Thorne thinks "I wish I could fix it."

Turning back, Hiroshi stares at Valentine for a long moment, before replying only, "the average life expectancy of the Terran male, last time 'Lena calculated it, was thirty-two point six five. Yes. Utopia, Princess." Without another word, he turns away to follow Thorne.

Thorne heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Thorne has left.

Hiroshi heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Hiroshi has left.

"They're having a rough time with this, Hiro..." Randal offers softly as they head for the scout.

"Let them," Hiroshi replies curtly. "It'll be tougher on us when they're gone. Suddenly we have six people we didn't have before, and the Alliance will adjust for that. Then they'll leave, and we'll be down six men and facing an enemy that expects us to have them, and the technology and the expertise they bring. We need them now, yes, but what's it going to cost us in the end?" A pause. "A lot more than having to call in Barana Nabrun to peel someone's head open, that's for certain."

Thorne closes his eyes for a moment, pausing by the scout hatch. "Someday..." he frowns, then lowers his voice. "Someday... I hope that none of this is necessary anymore."

"Me too," replies Hiroshi, rubbing a massive hand over his face. "Me too, Randal. But until then, it means dealing with people like 'Rana. Because if we don't, it won't be necessary anymore because we just won't be around."

Thorne keys open the hatch. "Here's hoping I can get this thing to work," he mutters before stepping on inside.

Valentine arrives from another part of the resistance compound.

Valentine has arrived.

Edwards arrives from another part of the resistance compound.

Edwards has arrived.

Hiroshi stands outside the Bajoran scoutship, nestled as it is under a few overhanging rocks, and simply nods his head to Thorne as the other man begins heading inside. "I'll wait out here." That said, he leans against the ship's hull and leans his head back, half-closing his eyes to keep a listen-out instead of a look-out. As it were.

Hurley arrives from another part of the resistance compound.

Hurley has arrived.

Thorne flops onto the floor inside the scout, pulls open a panel, and crawls inside. "Blasted Bajoran parts..." he mutters to himself.

Valentine's steps slow a bit as she approaches the scoutship, though she continues on a more-or-less straight line toward Hiroshi once she spots him. The engineer steps aside a bit to gesture to the man and let her Commander take center stage, easing away as if she just doesn't want to get anywhere near Hiroshi.

. o O Valentine grimly notes the irony.

Edwards follows behind Valentine, walking with purpose. Sometimes, he can pull out the importance. He steps right on up to Hiroshi, fixing the large Japanese man with a steady gaze. "What's this I hear about Havaris Jiasha and Barana Nabrun?" he inquires.

Just at Edwards and Valentine's heels, a tired Christine Hurley follow behind them. Interest and confusion cross her face as her commander approaches MirrorTakamura with immediate questions.

Hiroshi opens one eye, and then the other, staring down at Edwards and raising an eyebrow slightly before glancing at Valentine and then turning his gaze back to Edwards. "A few conclusions jumped to and a great deal of misplaced indignation, probably."

. o O Hiroshi thinks "Here comes the speech. How do these people get anything /done?/"

Valentine folds her arms across her chest, starting to look sick again. "Oh God, not again..."

"Maybe." Edwards allows. No indignation from him. He just watches Hiroshi calmly. "You wouldn't mind clearing this up then, would you? Just to put some minds at ease."

Takamura approaches on the road from the west.

Takamura has arrived.

Hurley looks from Valentine to Edwards to Hiroshi, then back to Valentine, very interested in what's going on, but completely clueless. So, she moves closer to Valentine and whispers, "What's going on?"

"I would," Hiroshi replies flatly. "If you'd prefer to keep your mind at ease, just don't think about it too much. I find that helps in all sorts of quandries when survival is weighed against morality." He crosses his arms over his chest and blinks slowly at Edwards.

Valentine shakse her head a bit in response to Hurley, though she continues to stare at the Hiroshi that's definitely not the one she's most familiar with. "Ummm, for a second there," she murmurs, "I thought I'd jumped to some very bad conclusions about our hosts, but now I'm not so sure."

"Yeah, see, that doesn't work for me. Sorry." Edwards doesn't really sound all that apologetic, for some reason. "Who's in charge around here? Now that your Stewart's off in perilous danger."

Hurley eyes Valentine, now even more confused than before, then looks back to Edwards, muttering under her breath, "I just wanted update everyone with the fact that I don't have an update on the comsys."

Valentine nods a little, not really hearing Chris. "Cool."

Thorne reappears with a circuitboard in his hand. "I cannibalized this from that Excelsior hulk we found a few years ago. Maybe it'll help us..." he pauses as he notices the standoff at the scout's gangway.

The long-haired Hiroshi walks onto the scene, blinking when he sees his short-haired counterpart. He then glances over to the others from his universe curiously.

"I am," Hiroshi replies flatly. "I suppose you might call me Jim's First Officer." Ladies and gentlemen, yet another one of the universe's constants. Hiroshi Takamura, Nature's First Officer. "Did you have any other questions?"

"That's... disappointing." Edwards states, considering The Man Who Would Be Number Two. "It does save me from dragging anyone else out here, at least." He smiles briefly. Bright side for everything. "I'm assuming that there's not a lot of room for negotiation here. You don't even want to confirm what's happening. So I'll just say this: you're not torturing Havaris Jiasha."

Valentine spots her favorite longhair and sidles toward him to, well, hide behind him.

. o O Valentine thinks "If I'm wrong, Edwards is gonna /kill/ me. If I'm right, the musclehead over there will do the job. Way to go, Tara."

Takamura gives Tara a concerned look when she hides behind him. When he hears his counterpart's words, he can't help but chuckle. "Well, it looks like some things don't change." At Edward's words, he quirks a brow. "What is this about torturing Jiasha?"

Hiroshi stares back at Edwards, expression flat. "You are right. There is not much room for negotiation here, nor is there room for moral grandstanding, Michael. If you have anything more useful to contribute to the situation, I suggest you do so." He raises his eyes from Edwards, then, and stares across at his otherworld counterpart. There's a sort of disconcerting calmness on his face as he does so, too. /I know me,/ that look says, /and I saw how you looked at her. I know what that look means./

Thorne slowly steps around the standoff and sidles around it to Hurley's side. "This thing'll help, I'm sure of it," he murmurs, holding up the doohickey.

Hurley glances to the object Thorne is handing her, takes it and blinks at him, her exhaustion clearly showing.

"/Look at me/." Edwards steps forward, moving to get right in Hiroshi's face. It's just a bonus that he's taller by a few inches, making him have to look down at the other man. "You're not torturing her. No negotation, no grandstanding. It's just not going to happen. Is that understood?"

. o O Edwards thinks "This time, I'm going to do it right."

"It'll help," Thorne repeats before he frowns. "Hey, why don't you get some rest? I'll take over from where you're at."

. o O Thorne thinks "Poor girl. She's worn out."

Valentine peeks out from behind her human shield, biting her lip. Valentine whispers to Takamura, "Jiasha won't talk. They want to bring in Barana to get it out of her, and I get the distinct impression she'll do it the hard and painful way. I could be wrong. They didn't say it outright... but they're refusing to deny it either."

"Let me fill you in on a little something, /Commander,/" Hiroshi replies very calmly, turning his eyes back to Edwards. "Your rank? Means nothing here, and the next time you attempt to give me an order, you will find out why that is a very, very bad idea. Here, you're just Michael, and Michael? You had better get out of my face."

Takamura nods his head slowly as he listens to Valentine. Crossing his arms across he chest, he returns the look to Hiroshi, stepping closer to him. Then, he looks over to Edwards. "Let me talk to him, sir."

Hurley is about to respond to Thorne, but the developing situation gets her attention.

. o O Takamura thinks "Well, I'm glad to see that my counterpart likes Edwards as much as I do."

"I have faced plenty of things that are a /hell/ of a lot scarier than you." Edwards says pointedly. "So I don't care who or what you pull out. I'll sooner have my corpse rotting on this moon, in this universe, long before I stand back and ignore any atrocity that happens around here. Or, preferably, I'll just thrash you until you wise up." He pauses, wound up and ready to pounce. "I don't think talking's going to solve this, Takamura. We're sure not compromising on it."

. o O Hiroshi thinks "Pompous. Morally unambigious to the point of stupidity. Ah. Yes. And given to gross exaggeration. What if I just left you in a dead shuttle like Wendy did, Michael?"

Valentine eeps silently as her Takamura steps forward, but she doesn't seem keen on moving in the same direction, but she stays put, looking apprehensive.

. o O Edwards thinks "Do it. Give me a reason. Come on."

Thorne sighs, putting his hand under his jacket and pulling his phaser out... but very pointedly not pointing it at anyone yet.

. o O Thorne thinks "This won't end well."

"Who are you trying to impress?" Hiroshi replies to Edwards, raising an eyebrow slowly and otherwise looking completely unimpressed. He turns away from the Commander, then, and glances at Thorne. "Get them some real clothes, would you, Randal? I'm sick of looking at their pajamas." A brief nod toward Takamura, as he turns his back on Edwards and gestures for his otherself to lead the way away from the group and out into the forest.

. o O Hiroshi thinks "Whoever it is, she isn't here right now, so get over it."

"Commander," Hurley interjects quickly, "may I speak with you, please?"

"Respectfully, sir. You're not calm enough to discuss anything. I think cooler heads need to discuss this." Takamura says calmly. Unfolding his arms, he returns the nod and begins to head toward the forest. Along the way, he gives Valentine a reassuring wink.

. o O Edwards thinks "*CENSORED*"

Takamura leads Hiroshi away from the rest of the group. Once they are out of earshot, he calmly says, "I see that we share something in common. Neither of us are impressed by Edwards. Now, could you please explain to me what this is all about?"

Hiroshi examines his otherself, moving up to walk alongside him as best he can. The paths in the forest are narrow, and neither of them are exactly narrow human beings. "He is far too like our Michael," he confirms, and leaves it at that. "We need the information she has. I'm not willing to use Cardassian methods on her, as effective as they might be. 'Rana is our next best choice." He doesn't sound particularly thrilled by that choice, but his voice has the sound of quiet inevitability.

Back with the other group...

Edwards saves face by getting to stand his ground and watch the Takamuras walk off, at least. Only when they're out of sight does he turn around, looking to Hurley. "What?" Nooo, he's not in a good mood.

Valentine smiles weakly at the wink. Very weakly. Hesitantly, she looks toward her fellow officers.

"Sir," Hurley says, looking around the area, then pointedly at the phaser in Thorne's hands that seems to have appeared out of nowhere, "in all due respect, we really aren't in a position to negotiate with them." She pauses, cants her head to the side and continues, "we are, however, in a position to convince them. That Takamura is likely very battle hardened. We could, possibly, talk sense into those who might not have abandoned morals quite yet. Discuss /why/ our Federation abandoned capital punishment and torture, remind them how they ended up on this moon fighting for their very existance."

Thorne slowly puts his phaser back in its holster. "Hiro's lost a lot," he murmurs. "You'd be better off getting your machine to make you some clothes. Ours are all secondhand, so to speak, and we don't have a lot to spare."

Edwards cannot formulate a response to Hurley's words right away. All he can do is look at her as if she is, perhaps, the most insane person he's met in his entire life. Like perhaps she just spotted that the world is flat and riding on the back of a turtle or something like that. When he can speak, he says, "Yeah. I'm sure that's it. We'll just explain how it's bad." He starts heading back the way they came. "Come on."

Valentine glances toward Thorne, looking his attire up and down, nods a little. "We can do that, yeah." She bites her lip as she turns to follow her superior. "Sir, I /could/ be wrong. I /hope/ I was." She seems dubious as to that possibility though.

... and returning to the near-idyllic forest away from the Bajoran craft...

Takamura nods his head slowly, stopping when he gets to a small break in the forest so the two men can look at each other. "I'm sorry to hear that. I thought one Michael Edwards was bad enough." When Hiroshi explains the situation, Takamura nods again with the hint of a smile. "I didn't think someone of our line would stoop to Cardassian methods. When 'Rana uses her telepathic abilities, will she hurt Jiasha? Because if so, it is just as bad as what the Spoonheads do. What other methods of interrogation have you tried?"

"Physically? No." Takamura replies, "and having endured both spoonhead methodology and Betazoid interrogation in my time, I would prefer the latter. I have yet to see someone killed by a Betazoid, though I imagine with enough time and patience it could happen." He leaves his arms to dangle at his sides, and shrugs loosely. "Name it, we've tried it, save deprivation. She's the Grand Inquisitor's assistant -- she's well-trained to resist interrogation. If we could have gotten someone else, someone easier to crack, we would have. She's just not well-trained to resist capture."

(And elsewhere... )

Hurley turns to follow Edwards, tapping Thorne's arm to try to get him to follow as well. She notes to Randal, quietly, "We may not be in a position to negotiate, but we can simply refuse to help if it appears that the resistance is no better than the alliance." She motions to Edwards, in the lead, "He can decide that, just as your Hiro can decide to not listen to him."

. o O Hurley thinks "This strangely feels like every Timefleet vs Starfleet debate I've ever walked into the middle of."

Thorne folds his arms over his chest. "Maybe you don't get that I'm not the boss here? I don't call any of the shots," he fires back to Hurley.

"What do you think about this, Thorne?" Edwards asks.

Valentine glances grimly toward Hurley as she follows along quietly.

"You may not, Randal," Hurley says softly, turning her tired expression back to him, "but you're certainly affected by it.. as is everyone in this compound fighting for freedom and their lives. How much is that freedom worth if you devalue other lives around you and repeat the mistakes that got you here in the first place?" She falls silent, now that Edwards is asking questions.

. o O Valentine thinks "Our lives ain't worth a plug credit to these people if we don't help them, Chrissy darlin'. This is definitely a lose-lose situation."

"What do I think? I think that if the Cardassians were interrogating us, what Barana does would be nice comparatively speaking." Randal pauses, looking back over his shoulder. "I don't like it... but this is a war, and sometimes, bad things happen in war. Right now, we don't have the luxury or the time to have regrets." He falls silent for a moment, then adds, softer, "I'll have them later."

Edwards stops walking and turns back to face the others. "A conscience isn't a luxury, Mr. Thorne." he replies, his tone a lot less heated than it was with Hiroshi. "We might be able to get something from her. Without hurting her. Give us a chance, or help us get one. If you wanna be able to say you did everything you could before resorting to something inhumane, you need to."

Valentine closes her eyes briefly with a soft sigh, then nods at her fellow officers' words. "Please."

Hurley remains silent, now confident of Edwards' approach.

"I'll see what I can do." Thorne spreads his hands. "It's all I can do."

"Thank you." Edwards says sincerely. "Just hope I can still talk my way through a prisoner." he mutters.

Valentine murmurs deadpan, "With your famous charm? Piece of cake."

... and further south...

Takamura hmmms as he studies Hiroshi's expression. "Can we have a crack at her before you use 'Rana? Obviously, you have some reservations about using her abilities. Maybe we can find a chink in Jiasha's armor. If nothing else, we might be able to confuse her into leaking something. Afterall, she is quite smug. And I've found that smug people sometimes like to gloat. So, what's the harm in letting us question her?"

"Would you trust me, in my shoes?" Hiroshi asks, and then notes a moment later, "That sounds a lot less metaphorical than usual, talking to you." He shrugs. "I have my reservations about a lot of things. 'Rana is one of them. She's... insane. But effective."

Hurley yawns, then nods. "Charm. That'll win her over, I'm sure of it."

Thorne inclines his head, remaining silent for once.

Edwards motions around vaguely. "You can all get back to whatever you were doing."

Valentine notes dryly, gesturing toward Thorne, "I was having a pleasant chat with him." She glances around. "What sizes do you two take? I'll start replicating some clothes for us."

Hurley wearily looks at Valentine, then at Randal's clothes and back at Valentine. She's trying to be polite, really, when she says, "I should probably... pick out my own patterns.."

. o O Hurley thinks "Oh god no. As if it's not bad enough that I'm stuck in a mirror universe, with a commander losing his grip, a lieutenant in medical stasis and an entire alliance comprised of those who want to see me rot in a grave, *Tara* is going to be picking out *my clothes* and.. shoes.. Oh god. I'm in Hell."

Edwards tells Valentine his size, using whatever size system they do. "Make me something that says 'rebel' but with style." On that note, he turns and wanders back into the base.

Valentine lifts an eyebrow, bemused, but she nods to Hurley. "Works for me." She sends a chuckle after Edwards, her expression abruptly gleeful. "Aye, sir!" she calls out merrily after Mikey.

Thorne rolls his eyes. "Rebel with style."

. o O Thorne thinks "What in the hell does he think this is? A... fashion show?"

Takamura grins at the question of trust. "I think I would trust you more than anyone else in your universe." He says sincerely. "Then if she is so insane, let us try to question Jiasha before you unleash her on our prisoner. Please."

"Insane, not a mad dog," Hiroshi corrects quietly. "And you are correct in that much. It doesn't say much, overall," but he returns the grin in exact kind, if somehow sadder and older. "but you, I'll give that chance."

"Thank you, Hiroshi. I knew that we could calmly come to an agreement." Standing up straight with his arms at his sides, Takamura bows to his doppleganger in traditional Japanese fashion.

. o O Hiroshi feels a sort of deep discomfort when discussing Barana: it's deeply disquieting for him to consider a Betazoid in that sort of light. It's all tangled up with things he's trying too hard to forget.

Hiroshi returns the bow, if only in a fashion that indicates he's copying his otherworld self, and turns back toward the group, gesturing once again for Takamura to lead the way.

"That's reserved," Hurley notes to Thorne softly. She lifts up the device he handed her earlier, turns it over in her hand, then asks, "Maybe I'm just tired, and maybe it's just slightly over my head, but.. what is this?"

Thorne looks over the circuit board very carefully. "Well.. it's... a... it works in subspace repeating relays. It's Starfleet equipment."

Valentine heads off at a cheerful trot toward her own shuttle, with a wide grin.

. o O Valentine thinks "Yay, decent clothes!"

Thorne heads off for the communications shack, Hurley in tow. At least, he hopes. Settling before the console, he points at a slot. "I think it'll fit in there."

Takamura steps out of the forest with Hiroshi, looking quite calm. Could that even be the remnants of a smile? He then looks around for Edwards.

Edwards has walked off inside.

Edwards heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Edwards has left.

Hurley plops onto the floor in front of the console, now on her forty-second wind. "It looks like it, though, we still need to secure the connections... the last thing you guys want is for a loose connection to cause a short that could render this entire system useless."

Thorne fishes in his pockets for a moment, and pulls out a small bi-modulating phase accelerator. "This'll secure it, right?"

Hurley's eyes widen. "Where did you get that?"

Thorne considers the tool for a minute. "I've had it for a while. Probably picked it up off an Alliance ship."

"You didn't happen to secure any good coffee, did you?" Hurley asks, a bit hopefully.

Not seeing Edwards, he wanders over to Thorne and Hurley. "Excuse me. Do either of you know where the commander got off to?"

Thorne shakes his head and grins. "Not unless they've started growing it on Qo'noS." Glancing at Tak, he waves a hand toward the buildings to the north. "I think he went that way."

"He wandered away after Tara said she'd replicate clothes for him," Hurley quickly explains, grabbing the tool from Thorne and disappearing under the comsys while continuing from underneath, "You might want to check with her about what you want clothing-wise. I almost fear what she's scrounging up for Commander Edwards."

GAME: Hurley spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Hurley contests her Systems Engineering (Communications) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Takamura blinks at what Hurley's said. "And you're going to let them make some clothes for you? I thought you had more fashion sense than that. But, thank you. Both of you. I think I'm going to try and catch up with them."

Thorne nods with approval at Hurley's handiwork. "Looks good from up here."

"Of course I'm not!" Hurley exclaims, pulling out of the whole thing and just barely missing the edge of the console with her head. "I'll be choosing my own patterns once I get this finished."

Takamura laughs. "I knew you had more sense than that. Well, I suppose I'll meet you up there then. Good luck with the comsys."

Thorne takes a deep breath. "All right, we've just got to get it turned on now. I think I'll let you handle it -- you're better at this than I am." He grins.

Hurley smiles back at the retreating officer, "Thanks, Tak. I'll catch you later." She looks to Thorne, gaining her usual cheeriness and excitement, "I think you're just trying to flatter me now." Turning to the console, she starts to bring the system up slowly, watching read-outs in quiet concentration.

<CONTEST> Hurley (claiming advantage) contests her Systems Engineering (Communications) skill vs a difficulty of Challenging and Succeeds!

Takamura heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Takamura has left.

Thorne watches with fascination as everything comes back up. "No... I'd tell you that you're the best communcations engineer I've ever seen. Like I am right now. That is, if I were trying to flatter you." He grins brightly. "Good work."

. o O Thorne thinks "Real good work."

. o O Thorne is extremely impressed.

"You should see my grandfather," Hurley notes, pride just dripping from her words. "And Lieutenant Ha.." she stops, eyeshifts, then beams brightly at Thorne, "my superior officers, including our Nathan. They're better than me."

Thorne places his hands on the console. "I suppose that I'd like to shake their hands," he offers. "Now, let's see if we can get a message out."

Hurley considers, then nods. "They're all good men. Especially Grandfather. You know, your other you and he are good friends in my universe." She crosses her arms, stepping away from the comsys, still beaming with pride. "Different as night and day, but very good friends."

"Is that a fact? You'll have to tell me all about him," Randal replies as he tabs the transmit button.

A message flashes into space via the newly repaired communications relay, aimed for a desolate part of the Okuda Sector...

On a smallish bridge, Minos looks over the message -- first with disbelief, then with a slowly broadening grin. "Barana! Chere! Get up here! We've got a new job to do..."