Mirror Wears My Face VI

 Episode Name:  Mirror Wears My Face VI

   Written By:  Spider

         Cast:  Alethea, Edwards, Eidolon, Hurley, Spider, 
                Stewart, Takamura, Thorne and Valentine.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Spider

     Aired On:  Sat Aug 21 04:51:28 2004

     Stardate:  54328.8

Time: Fri Aug 20 13:12:53 2004

Stardate: 54327.2

Thorne is parked at the table in the ubiquitous mess hall, aimlessly stirring yet another bowl of stew. His heart's not in eating, and so he just stares into the brownish liquid glop.

Reading her PADD, Tara meanders her way into the hall to slip into a seat across from the rebel without looking up. Automatically she reaches to fill a cup with water and pull it toward herself, setting the PADD down for continued studying. "Heya."

Takamura enters the mess hall not long after Tara, coming from a different direction. Approaching the table, he scoops out a bowl of stew and takes a seat on the same side as Tara, but not close to her. He simply nods his head in greeting to both of them before pulling out his own PADD.

"Mornin'," Randal replies after a moment, lifting a spoonful of stew, inspecting it for a moment, then letting it fall back into the bowl before him with a plop.

Valentine glances up at the plop to consider Randal and his food for a moment. "You know you have to eat to keep up your strength," she says gently. "You won't do Mike and Jimmy any good if you faint away in the middle of the raid." Glancing toward Tak, she nods, and taps her PADD. "Hey, I've been reading up on some intermediate combat medicine, and I have a few questions. Whenever's good."

Takamura slowly eats his own stew and reads. After a few moments, he turns to Tara. "Very good. What are your questions?" His reply is matter of fact, detached.

. o O Takamura feels cold inside.

. o O Takamura thinks "Good. Focus on the work at hand. That's all there is. The Mission."

"Yeah, I know," Randal replies before he takes a bite. To say the least, he looks uncomfortable.

. o O Thorne really is tired of being at odds with people.

Valentine eyes Randal for a moment, then nods in hypocritical satisfaction. Clearing her throat, she scrolls her PADD screen upward. "There's a number of stimulants listed here that can be used in the field. How do you know which is the best to use, and can we replicate all of them?"

Takamura finishes a bite of stew. Glancing at Tara's PADD, he comments. "As a general rule of thumb until you have more experience, you should start with the least powerful stimulant and use progressively stronger ones. This way you don't endanger the patient more. As for replicating them, I think it is best that we just use the ones in the medkits. We should conserve our replicator slush for an emergency."

. o O Valentine thinks "God, he must be /really/ ticked off at me. Way to go, Tara. Time to be meek and quiet for once in your life."

Thorne glances between the two, frowning now. "Glad you're thinking ahead."

Valentine listens quietly, intently, then nods. "Understood." She scrolls further down, now giving the PADD a slightly exasperated look. "Every first aid guide I've ever read says the same thing- 'Only use a tourniquet if absolutely necessary'." She glances up toward Tak. "But how do you know the line between necessary and not?" Catching Thorne's frown, she hesitates, then moves her fingers to turn the PADD off. "Sorry, Randal. I can deluge the Lieutenant with questions later."

Hurley enters the mess hall for the first time since the previous day, jacket draped over her arm, so her snug, short-sleeved shirt is visible as well as her arms. Her shirt is slightly damp and face betrays the workout she just forced herself through. Upon entering and noting the locations of various people, she moves to the table and plops into a seat quietly, her gaze falling on Valentine.

"No, I was being serious. I'm glad you're thinking ahead." Randal lifts a spoonful of stew, then lets it plop back into the bowl. Such a picture of cheerfulness he is.

"If the patient will die without it, then apply the tourniquet." Takamura answers. Turning to Randal, he says, "We must always think ahead. We must be prepared for any contingency." When Hurley enters, he nods to her, looking pleased to see the dampness on her shirt.

. o O Hurley thinks "I need to start running with Grandfather when I get back. Ugh. I didn't even *know* I had muscles there."

Valentine ohs, smiling a little. She starts to say something, ends up nodding at Takamura's words to the man. "Tourniquet before death, gotcha. Actually, I think that's about it for now, as far as questions go. I'd give a piece of my own anatomy for a holodeck to practice on though. Ah well." A subdued, pleasant nod is given Hurley. "Heya Chris."

"Tara, Tak," Hurley's eyes fall on Thorne and a smile actually reaches her lips. "Randal. Hey, I have something for you." She turns her jacket over, reaches into one of the jackets and withdraws a chocolate bar, which she tosses in Randal's direction. "It's good. I have .. well, had... a private reserve back on the station - mother sends me some from time to time, you see."

Thorne frowns at the chocolate bar, turning it over in his hands. "It's food?" Content not to wait, he tears open the end of the wrapper and sniffs the interior.

. o O Thorne thinks "It certainly smells good."

Takamura nods simply to Valentine's words, then returns to eating his stew. Apparently, someone isn't the picture of talkativeness today.

Valentine chuckles quietly, watching Thorne, then her eyes return to her PADD, though it's not on. After a moment, she leans forward to fill a bowl halfway with stew and pulls it toward herself, poking at lumps of meat and vegetables with a spoon.

Hurley nods in response to Thorne. "Yes, chocolate. It's sweet and good and chocolatey and good and addictive and good." Motioning with a hint of impatience, she quickly says, "Go on. Try it."

. o O Valentine thinks "Is it good?"

Thorne takes an experimental bite from the end of the bar, chewing thoughtfully. "It's... sweet..." he allows after a moment, raising both of his eyebrows.

. o O Thorne isn't sure what to make of this "chocolate". It's not like anything he's ever had.

Takamura glances at Thorne as he tries the chocolate bar. Shrugging, he finishes his bowl of stew and scoops out a refill and pours a glass of water.

. o O Takamura thinks "I have to give Hurley credit. She knows how to brighten up a dreary day."

Valentine takes a ginger nibble at a chunk of meat on her spoon and chews, swallowing carefully. She blinks, and really digs in, scooping stew into her mouth almost faster than she can sawllow the preceding bite. "It's chocolate," she mentions in between bites, and glances toward Chris pleadingly. "Got any more?"

"I told you," Hurley says, beaming with pride. "My favorite drink actually mixes a little chocolate into coffee, then icing it and topping it with whipped cream. I ... haven't had one in about a week, but it's really good. Gives you energy, you know?" As if she needs the extra energy. "I also.. wanted to apologize for last night," she goes on to say. Opening her mouth, she's about to go on, but stops, lowers her gaze to the table and awkwardly shifts in her chair, then crosses one of her ankles over the other leg. To Valentine, she murmurs, "On the shuttlecraft, next to the remaining medical bed. Help yourself, Tara."

Carefully folding over the end, Randal slides the bar into a pocket. "I'll share some with Dana," he murmurs, falling silent as Hurley starts to apologize.

Takamura takes a long sip of water, then continues to eat his lunch. Instead of engaging in conversation, he returns to reading his PADD. Every now and again, he taps at it.

Valentine takes note of the chocolate location with a nod, her eyes going back and forth between Randal and Hurley. She draws her gaze away uncomfortably. Valentine whispers to Takamura, "A couple of things to report to you when you get a chance."

Hurley shakes her head in response to Randal. "No, that's for you. I have another for Dana." She pats the jacket folded neatly in her lap, then tugs a few wrinkles out of her pant legs.

"Dana..." Randal pauses for a moment, then lowers his voice so it doesn't carry. "They killed Hamish right in front of her, and then cut her throat and left her to die. If I hadn't been there, she would have bled to death." He's silent for a moment more. "I... I know you don't agree with our tactics, but we're being hunted to extinction... and I'm sorry about the little girl. Really I am. She wasn't supposed to be there."

. o O Valentine pauses. "Okay, Hamish is getting the stuffing hugged out of him when we get home."

. o O Takamura thinks "No. Don't bring up Nua. Concentrate Hiroshi. Be strong. Focus."

Takamura continues eating and reading. At least until Randal refers to Nua. Abruptly, he halts and looks at the man for a moment. His lip quivers slightly, then he takes a deep breath and his facade returns. Glancing to Valentine, he says. "Now would be a good time."

. o O Hurley wants to respond, really really wants to respond. It takes all of her concentration to keep herself in check.

Valentine bites her lip slightly at catching Tak's expression, and keeps her voice low. "Chris and Randal, resident geniusii," she smiles faintly, "Were able to modify our communicators with Alliance technology so using 'em doesn't turn us into beacons." The engineer reaches into her pocket and pulls out a commbadge, which she places on the table by Tak's bowl. "And Lieutenant Stewart woke up while we were working on these. He's been apprised of the situation, and put himself back into the freezer." Not even a hint of censure; it's a simple reporting of facts.

Hurley very carefully responds to Randal, her eyes still cast at the invisible fuzz on her pants leg, "I believe you, Randal." She pauses, leaving a pregnant silence in place of her uncomfortable voice, then finally chooses what to say, again, very carefully, "You have all been placed in a situation I can only imagine, and even then, I can't. I have.. no right... to ... judge ... anything." Drawing in a quick breath, she looks directly at Valentine, and in relief, says, "Our communications will be masked, but we still need to test range to ensure we can still reach each other, and I wouldn't mind having a stress-test on them. These communicators were /not/ designed to do what we're doing with them, which is a problem."

Valentine nods at Hurley and withdraws into silent eating, refilling her bowl to scarf some more.

Takamura nods to Valentine as he picks up the commbadge and places it in a jacket pocket. He then finishes the rest of his stew, looking up to the others. "Very well. Perhaps I'll leave so that I can get some more planning done and then we can test the communicators. Pardon me."

Thorne turns his gaze back to his stew, frowning now. "Yeah... we should do that right away," he murmurs, looking as if he'd like to say more... but, in the end, filling his mouth with more of Nathan's stew.

Time: Fri Aug 20 16:48:23 2004

Stardate: 54327.6

Outside, the stress testing begins in earnest. Randal takes out his phaser, places one of the spare modified communicators on the ground and takes a few steps back. "Okay. I'll shoot it, and we'll see if works afterward." He glances at Valentine, quirking a grin. "Ready?"

Valentine, arms folded across her chest, crosses her fingers with a wry grin of her own. "I am. I doubt the communicator feels the same way. Maybe we should blindfold it first. Ask if it has any last words."

Thorne's grin brightens for just a moment. "Or I could just blast it." Without further ado, he levels the phaser and pulls the trigger.

<CONTEST> Thorne contests his Energy Weapon (Bajoran Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Fails!

The phaser beam makes an impression all right -- it makes a small rock glow, but leaves the communicator intact because Randal didn't even come close to hitting it.

. o O Thorne thinks "Okay... stop trying to impress the girl. Just shoot it."

. o O Thorne fills with embarrassment.

Valentine snickers. Then she lifts an eyebrow, and looks back at Thorne. "I'd do worse," she offers cheerfully.

Thorne clears his throat. "Right. Let's try that again."

<CONTEST> Thorne contests his Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Fails!

Another clean miss. Randal raises both of his eyebrows, and then looks at the phaser incredulously.

Valentine looks down at the grass between her feet, fighting the giggles.

"Maybe you should try it?" Randal asks, offering his phaser. "I'm not at the top of my form today. Didn't get much sleep last night, you know."

Valentine pulls out her own phaser, sobering at the mention of the night before. "Okay, but I'm warning ya- I'm worse."

<CONTEST> Valentine contests her Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Fails!

Valentine does not look particularly surprised when a patch of grass behind the communicator sizzles and crisps. "See? Told ya." She still sounds rather cheerful about it.

Thorne's lips split in a wide grin. "This is not something that we need to be showing to each other the day before we raid an enemy installation," he remarks lightly before he aims once more and fires.

<CONTEST> Thorne contests his Energy Weapon (Phaser) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

The low power phaser beam catches the communicator and bounces it about on the ground.

With a grin, Randal saunters forward after shoving his phaser in the waistband of his pants. "See? Nothing to it," he offers lightly over his shoulder.

Valentine snickers quietly, following. "Right. Is the communicator un-melted?"

Thorne settles next to the communicator, inspecting it with a frown. "It's not melted, that's for sure. Does it have internal damage?"

"Hrm, let's see." Tara pushes her phaser back into its holster and flips on her tricorder, kneeling down beside the communicator that has possibly given its life in defense of humankind.

<CONTEST> Valentine contests her Personal Equipment (Tricorder) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Valentine grunts softly at the resulting readout. "Looks like it'll work, though I doubt it'd survive another blast." She looks up. "Of course, considering what else'll get hit if a commbadge does, that might all be a moot point."

"What else should we test it for?" Randal asks after a moment. "A phaser blast is about the strongest thing I can think of to hit it with, unless you want to throw boulders on it."

"We'd need Hiro for that, I suspect," Tara remarks, and reaches out to gingerly pick up the badge. She sets it on the rock that got blasted, and looks around, locating another rock. "If somebody falls during that hike..."

Thorne nods with approval. "Smashing damage."

<CONTEST> Valentine contests her Athletics (Smashing) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Fails!

"Precisely." *CLANG* Tara winces at the impact of rock against rock, and gives the communicator a dryly amused look as the tiny shock sends it skittering down onto the grass. "Randal, it's escaping."

Thorne chases down the rolling communicator, picking it up and brushing off the surface. "I don't think you even scratched it."

Valentine nods, tossing the rock in his direction. "I don't think I even hit it."

. o O Valentine thinks "Pity Hiro didn't see that. He'd be laughing his cute butt off."

<CONTEST> Thorne contests his Dodge skill vs Valentine's Athletics (Throwing) skill and Fails!

The rock bounces harmlessly off Randal's chest, causing him to blink in surprise. "All right, I can take a hint. -I'll- try to smash it," he offers as he moves back to the top of the hill.

Valentine eeps, blushing sheepishly, and scuffs a booted toe against the grass. "Sorry about that."

"If I were angry about it, I would have shot the hill in retribution," Thorne replies lightly as he places the communicator on the rock and selects one for himself to smash with.

<CONTEST> Thorne contests his Athletics (Smashing) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Fails!

Valentine snickers quietly, her eyes going to the badge.

*KATHWAM*! goes the rock onto the ground next to the rock, barely missing Randal's booted foot. "It's good. It won't break," he mutters darkly, giving the rock a baleful look.

Valentine grins, shaking her head. "We have met the rock, and we are its."

Thorne nods slowly, taking a breath. "I doubt someone falling down will actually damage it, to be honest. We shot it with a phaser and it didn't, after all."

Valentine nods at that. "More than likely. Okay. What was the other thing we need to test..? Oh! Distance. I really don't expect it to have lost much in that, and we're not going to be hundreds of klicks away from each other."

"I'd say ten at the outside, probably less," Randal replies after a moment of thought.

Valentine nods. "Okay, when Hiro insists on that bloody PT again, we'll take one along on the run."

"Sounds good," Thorne replies, nodding and smiling. "Just as long as they work that well, we should be good to go."

Valentine mhmms, turning off her tricorder. "As long as neither you nor I have to do any shooting," she smiles slyly.

Thorne laughs for a moment. "I don't think we'll be that lucky," he replies after a moment.

Valentine hmmms and nods, rising to stand. "What other preparations do you folks need to make yet?"

"We're charging up all the weapons we have," Randal replies softly. "I think the cloak is good to go -- I'm not certain, to be honest, because that's really Thea's department."

Valentine nods, then hesitates. "Are Barana and company coming along?"

Thorne shudders involuntarily. "Maybe."

. o O Thorne gets the willies from Barana.

Valentine sighs softly, glancing in the direction of the compound. "Well, the more bodies, the better, I suppose."

"Something like that," Thorne replies, folding his arms over his chest as he follows her gaze. "Still, some we could maybe do without. Barana's been through a lot."

Valentine tilts her head, silent for a moment. "Seems like a lot of folks around here have. What's her story?"

Thorne shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot. "She was tortured until her mind broke."

Valentine turns to look back at him. "I can see how that'd make her... upset. She's definitely trustworthy as far as we're concerned, though?"

. o O Valentine thinks "You tortured me, now I'm going to return the favor. Sounds like the Capulets and Montagues."

"I'm certain she's trustworty as far as we're concerned. God help anyone who's on the other side, though," Randal replies after a moment, his brows furrowing in thought.

. o O Thorne thinks "Telepaths bother me."

. o O Thorne thinks "I really don't like having my thoughts aired for them to hear."

Valentine nods at that. "What's Havaris Jiasha know that we don't and is so important?"

"She knows a lot. Her brother is a member of the Right Hand, after all." Thorne's shoulders lift in a shrug. "I hope she knows where Jim and Mike are."

Valentine considers him, opens her mouth, shuts it again, and clears her throat. "And what's your story, Randal?"

Thorne frowns, allowing his eyebrows to perk for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Valentine gestures slightly. "Everybody here's been through a lot, one way or another. Surely you're not an exception to that rule."

"I just keep my head low and try to stay off the Alliance's radar for the most part," Randal murmurs, his eyes sliding closed. "I was born in the mines and fought my way out of them."

Valentine's eyebrows rise. "That's one hell of a feat."

. o O Valentine is impressed.

Thorne shakes his head. "You do what you have to do to survive," he offers softly.

Valentine grimaces somewhat, dusting off a stone upon which to sit. "Every time I hear that, I have to stifle the urge to lecture. If I lose that battle, I apologize in advance."

"You weren't born here. I can't really expect you to understand until you see what the Alliance is like," Randal offers softly, settling to the ground to sit.

Valentine slips down to lay back against her chosen stone. "I'm not sure that it's that the Alliance is so bad- they are," she adds hastily, "I have no doubt of that- as it is the fact that the badness we have to deal with back home isn't as overwhelming. The Breen are a good example. Did they slaughtered millions of Terrans last year? Yes. Are we in danger of extinction? No. The vast majority of us will never be in danger from something like that."

"I think that if things in your universe were like ours, you'd do the same things we do," Thorne murmurs. "We're against the wall, fighting for whatever chance we might have left to survive."

"We wouldn't. Trust me." Edwards wanders on over, glancing around, much more subdued than usual.

Valentine shakes her head in answer to Thorne, starting to speak... and looks up when Edwards speaks. "Evening, Commander."

"It's all very good and proper to stand by your morals and virtues," Randal observes, "but you've never been in our position. It starts with small compromises, but they get easier, and easier... and the scruples you compromise get to be larger and larger. I don't like it that we torture people. I don't like that innocent people die. All I want is to find a place where I can live out the rest of my life with Dana in peace... but that can't happen until the Alliance is defeated."

Thorne pauses, then adds, softly, "It's a vicious cycle, really."

"You don't know what positions I've been in, or what choices I've been faced with." Edwards says flatly. "And it doesn't matter, anyway. You don't need to justify yourself to us. It's not our job to judge you. That's something between you and... you." He moves to stand near Valentine, nodding to her. "All I know is... some compromises would cost too much. When you start acting just like your enemy... What's the point?"

Valentine looks back and forth between the two men, and sighs. "See, this is precisely why I was trying to avoid lecturing, to keep this debate from coming up. We're not going to convince you guys of our point of view, and you're not going to convince us, so arguing about it's kind of... silly. Let's just do the job we have to do, which /is/ something Good, in everybody's opinion, I believe."

Eventually, the Baer opens, permitting Christine Hurley to step out of its confines. After a brief stretch, she hesitantly moves away from the shuttlecraft and towards the compound and group of people gathered outside.

. o O Valentine thinks "Men. Always gotta fight."

"The Alliance would have executed you for your shuttle and left your corpses drifting in space," Randal replies slowly, keeping his gaze on the sky above. "Or sent the men to the dilithium mines and made the women concubines. We're not 'acting just like our enemy'." He pauses to listen to Valentine, then nods in agreement.

Edwards counters simply, "I pissed you off and almost took a phaser blast in the back."

Valentine facepalms. "Commander..." Saved by the Hurley. Leaning back against a rock in the grass, Tara sends a wave in the communications officer's direction. "Hey, we did some stress tests on the communicators. Came through with flying colors."

"I had it set to stun. Havaris Kusto would have vaporized you," Randal counters the counter.

. o O Valentine thinks "Only women get to be concubines? Sexist pigs."

A smile forms in response to Valentine with an accompanying nod. "Good. I worried the connections wouldn't be secure enough considering the redesign of the devices, but.. that's good to hear." Hurley looks between Edwards and Thorne, lips purse in thought a brief moment, but the smile remains. Someone's been practicing.

Edwards concentrates on his little debate. "So you're not as bad. You still judge what's morally acceptable by comparing yourself to your enemies. Not exactly the benchmark I'd be looking toward." He shakes his head. "Valentine's right. This is pointless. All of you can just keep telling yourself that you've done what you had to, and maybe you'll believe it, if you don't already."

. o O Edwards thinks "I'm tired of these damn arguments. They're always pointless. Why do I let myself get sucked into them?"

. o O Valentine thinks "God, he's being a jerk."

"They don't, Sir," Hurley says softly, eyes casting downwards. "They don't feel they have a choice."

"The Halkans." Randal pushes himself to his feet to walk away. "We didn't destroy the Halkans." Whatever that's supposed to mean.

Valentine bites her lip, watching Thorne go. "You know," she comments to nobody in particular, "I keep having relatively pleasant conversations with that man, and they keep getting interrupted by /un/pleasantness. Well, maybe the third time'll be the charm."

"You could have a pleasant conversation with Kodos the Executioner too, I bet." Edwards says sharply. He turns away and wanders off some. Not far, just several feet, to stand in his own area.

Hurley doesn't take Edwards' movements to mean he *really* wants space, and follows him to his own area, hands clasped behind her back. "I've been doing some thinking," she says rather bluntly to Edwards without invitation.

Valentine's eyes narrow, and she rises, pushing off her little leaning stone. "If Kodos was going to have my back tomorrow in a very dangerous prison break, you betcha, I'd chat him up like he were a drunken Orion." She glances toward Hurley, eyebrow quirking in curiosity.

"Oh no." Edwards remarks dryly, turning back to fix Hurley with a rather baleful look. He doesn't reply to Valentine's comment.

Hurley's smile turns to a smirk and she cants her head. "Thanks for the confidence," she notes, then goes on to ask, "Do we know when they intend to use their own interrogation techniques on Havaris Jiasha?"

. o O Valentine thinks "Wow. Jim Stewart's starting to seem like better company than Edwards. Will wonders never cease."

Valentine doesn't say anything for the moment- she'd like to hear the answer to that one herself.

Edwards replies, "For all I know, they already have."

"Well," Hurley begins, rather carefully, "how.. right.. is it of us to prison break one of their people and leave her in their hands, if she hasn't been.. destroyed.. already?"

Valentine peers toward the other woman, striding forward slowly. "What're you suggesting, Chris?"

Edwards just glances toward Valentine and back to Hurley pointedly.

Hurley bites at her lower lip, then blurts out, "We save her, too."

Valentine slowly nods. "I had a feeling you were going to say that." She glances toward Edwards. "Sure as shinola, they aren't going to leave her alive, whether they destroy her mind or not."

"And they've already shown they're no better with their prisoners than the Alliance," Hurley quickly adds to Valentine's comment.

"Logistics, people. Logistics." Edwards replies. "We don't need to debate the right or wrongness of it. The question is, is it possible?"

Hurley shrugs, "We have a transporter. Surely they don't have transporter shielding?" Clearing her throat, she adds quickly, "And if they do, I'm sure Ensign Birev can get it.. temporarily.. offline."

Valentine takes a breath, thinking. "I think we could get her away. The problem is- what do we do with her then? We can't go knocking on the Alliance front door and say 'oh, hey, here's your Inquisitor's assistant, sorry about the transit damage'."

Edwards asks, "And what keeps a group of pissed off rebels from killing us? I'm not sure how much they need her information to carry out this rescue operation."

"Well," Hurley says softly, "that's where I'm at a loss. I'm not exactly a tactical expert, you see." To Valentine, she says, "No, we can't knock on their door. However, we can leave her there, naturally sedated so she doesn't cause a fuss, when we're there." Looking back at Edwards, she shrugs again, "Sir, after what I saw last night, I don't think we can justify helping them in such conditions - especially when we *know* the science teams on 419 are working on ways to get us home."

Valentine arches an eyebrow at Hurley. "Leave her... at the prison? You don't think maybe the rebels would notice their prisoner on the shuttle? I can't exactly stuff her into a cabinet, even skinny as she is."

"Maybe we can pull off a trade." Edwards glances off thoughtfully. "One Havaris Jiasha in exchange for not self-destructing the Baer and refusing to help."

Hurley's eyebrows raise. "Not.. exactly.. what I had in mind.." Clearing her throat, she says, "You realize, without the Baer, we're not getting home, right?"

Valentine looks at Edwards, and lets out a sigh. "That's one possibility. Or we can simply ask them to give her to us after the raid, that we'll make sure she never causes them trouble again. Rivers won't like it, but I think their Tak might go for it."

"We can't promise that," Hurley interrupts, looking at Valentine, "unless we're planning on taking her with us, and somehow, I doubt Starfleet Command - or the Havarises - will smile on that idea."

"Guess that would prove we practice what we preach." Edwards replies to Hurley. He shakes his head at Valentine. "No... They're going to rummage through her mind for information to help with the raid, Ensign. So we'll send her back alive, but..."

Valentine spreads her hands. "Problem is, there's no guarantee her brains are gonna be scrambled. Probably, yes, but some of these folks have been through what Nabrun has in mind, no pun intended, and recovered. And, if you'll remember, Starfleet Command probably isn't gonna like /any/ of this when we get home. We might all be up for courts martial. I'm just glad brig food ain't that bad."

Hurley looks at Edwards. "Commander, I'm willing to show them that we *will* stand behind our values, but you do realize what that's going to do. We may end up on the run from them /and/ the Alliance." Pausing, she adds with a small smile, "which may not be much different than the way we've been heading /without/ saving Jiasha."

Edwards gives Valentine a look, "The point is to spare her the torture. I don't want to use any information pulled out of her head. That makes me feel like an accomplice." He pauses. "We need to remember, people. These folks have no reason to listen to us. They have Jiasha, and they have the numbers and weapons to do what they want with her and ignore us. Not to mention that they feel they're doing what they have to do and resent us. So, if we're going to negotiate, we need something to level the playing field." He nods at Hurley. "It won't be pretty, but doing the right thing usually isn't. The wrong thing is always a hell of a lot easier."

"I'm aware of that, Commander." Tara sounds a little impatient. "My point was that they will never let her go if she can do damage to them in the future, and we cannot guarantee that."

"No more damage than Stewart will do to the Alliance in the future," Hurley notes softly.

"Something tells me that is not going to sway them," Tara notes dryly.

Edwards clarifies, "I know, Ensign. And my point is that we need to persuade them that it'd be more beneficial to risk than, rather than... something else."

Hurley asks, a bit naively, "Do you think we can convince her to start taking steps towards peace? Jiasha, that is. If we can show her kindness and return her, do you think maybe that'll.. I don't know, stick?"

"I think she'd wait just long enough until she can stick a knife in our backs," Tara says bluntly, and takes a deep breath. "So- we blackmail them?"

Edwards allows Valentine's answer on Jiasha to stand. "I'm not sure if my idea would work. I'm concerned about how easily Thorne got past your lockout on the Baer when this mess started."

. o O Valentine thinks "Convince her to start taking steps toward peace? Isn't that how this whole ALliance mess got started? /Thank/ you, Captain Kirk."

Hurley's eyes narrow. "You know," she says rather thoughtfully, "they didn't show up on the station in a ship. They didn't have the Baer when they ended up in our universe. They have a way to teleport to rather.. specific.. coordinates."

Valentine grimaces at Edwards' reminder. "It'd be pretty tight, yeah." She looks toward Hurley, arching an eyebrow.

Valentine points out, "We don't know how they did or didn't get on the station."

"But they stole the Baer for a reason. They need it." Edwards remarks.

Hurley says, softly, "We may not need them. If they could do it, I'm very certain the science teams on 419 can do it, too."

Valentine shakes her head. "I'm not sure where you're going with this, Chris."

"Just agreeing with Commander Edwards in my own way," Hurley notes, looking towards Valentine. "We have an advantage over them, and I don't think they realize it."

Edwards sighs and looks down. "If this is going to be a possibility, we need anything valuable moved off of the Baer. Like Leftenant Stewart."

"And medical supplies," Hurley notes, "and food of some sort."

Valentine lifts an eyebrow at Hurley's words. "Of course they haven't realized it. Because we don't. They refuse to hand over Jiasha, we blow the Baer and they kill us or leave us stranded where 419 will never think to look for us or the Alliance will catch up with us, or we take it away, and they're still going to try that prison break. They need their Stewart that badly." She pauses, looking toward Edwards. "I really think we ought to get Hiro's input on this before we start acting on it."

. o O Valentine thinks "This... is a really dumb plan."

"Move the medical supplies off of the Baer, if they're still on there." Edwards states. "We'll leave Stewart for the moment. Both of you be ready to go wake him up at a moment's notice."

Hurley glances to Valentine, then offers a small smile to Edwards. "Where should we move everything, Sir? Into the compound?"

For a few seconds, Valentine most definitely does not look happy, then she schools her expression to neutrality. "Aye, sir." She shakes her head. "That'd tip 'em off that we're up to something. Hide it in the jungle."

Edwards motions toward the compound. "No, put them in there. If anyone asks about it, just tell them you're putting the stuff away. We got it for them."

. o O Valentine thinks "Okay, how did this guy ever make the rank of Commander?"

Hurley nods. "I'll grab some food rations while I'm at it." Glancing between Valentine and Edwards, she adds, "I'll also leave a message for Lieutenant Stewart for when he has the setting set to wake him. He does that to check in, you know. Just for the record, I'm not sure Lieutenant Stewart will .. completely agree with this idea."

"I'm pretty /damn/ sure he won't." Tara looks back at Edwards and draws herself up to attention. "For the record- this is a /really/ bad idea."

Hurley closes her eyes at Tara's outburst and simply exhales.

. o O Hurley thinks "This isn't going to help, Tara. Calm down. Edwards will talk to the other officers when he gets a chance."

"And just what, in your infinite experience, makes you say that, Ensign?" Edwards fixes Valentine with a look.

"Because you're forgetting something- we're dealing with fanatics," Tara points out, refusing to be intimidated. "Fanatics don't tend to be reasonable."

Hurley looks between the two other officers, smiles, and turns to head back to the shuttlecraft. "Either way, the medical supplies /should/ be in the compound. I'll have a few hidden in case we need to get to them ourselves. And.. the message for Lieutenant Stewart to find you, Commander, I'll make sure he's at least alerted."

"So you'd feel more comfortable with what? Sticking your head in the sand until it's time to play hero, then go home? To hell with what else happens?" Edwards asks, his anger coming back around.

Hurley pauses, turns back around and places herself right in between Edwards and Valentine. "Commander, Ensign, calm down. *We* can't turn on each other now."

Valentine tilts her head slightly, regarding him. Calmly. "It's not a matter of comfort. I've made suggestions. I've noted my objections. Now I'm going to go follow my orders. Sir." Tara turns on her heel and stalks off through the forest toward the shuttlecraft.

"Carry on, Ensign." Edwards addresses Hurley tersely, before he turns to walk off.

. o O Edwards thinks "Why does it always turn out this way?"

Hurley stands in the middle of the forest, eyes closed and fingers reaching up to clasp the bridge of her nose. "I wonder if there are any openings in any of the stores in the mall? I could sell shoes. I'd be good at that."

Hurley steps off the shuttlecraft again, dataPADD in hand, and turns toward the compound while reviewing the information.

And there's Edwards, leaning against a tree-like plant near the shuttle, staring off at... the distance. Not anything particular, really. Just off. He shifts some, stepping on a few leaves, but doesn't react to that.

Hurley glances up a few times to ensure she doesn't vertically faceplant into a nearby tree. During one of her checks, the sight of Edwards catches her eyes and she turns in that direction, but returns her attention to the DataPADD. "Sir," she says, when she should be on approach, "I want to show you the message I left for Lieutenant Stewart, and have a couple of other things about which I need to talk to you."

"Will I regret it if I let you talk?" Edwards reluctantly turns his attention away from nothing in particular and toward Hurley, eyeing her warily.

Hurley finally lifts her gaze and simply blinks at Edwards. "Well," she hesitantly says, "..I .. don't *think* you.." Eyebrow raises, "Do you regret me talking to you earlier today?"

Edwards replies, "I'm not in the mood for anyone to contribute to the effort to give me an ulcer, that's all." He motions for her to go ahead. "What's on your mind?"

Hurley eyeshifts, reaches into one of her pockets to pull out a chocolate bar, and offers it before the DataPADD. "I'm well aware that we're not an ideal team for this, Commander. I've spoken extensively about it with Tak."

"You know what the ideal team would be? One that didn't fight with each other over everything at the drop of a hat." Edwards says sharply. And right after he frowns and slumps against the tree-thing. "Sorry. I'm just... tense." He shakes his head at the chocolate and takes the PADD, glancing over it.

"I know you're tense," Hurley responds softly, folding both hands over the chocolate bar and letting it drop in front of her. "I saw it last night in front of Jiasha. Commander, I *know* it's wrong, and I hate to admit it, but if it were Commander Ghorev, I know the other Ensigns wouldn't date question his orders. But, that's because they're under his command *every day*."

. o O Edwards thinks "Ghorev. Damnit. So he's a Starfleet god. We can't all be."

Edwards makes a face at the mention of Ghorev, but only says on that topic, "He used to be under my command every day." He offers the PADD back. "Maybe I'm just not as scary as I used to be."

"Or maybe they're simply not used to being under different peoples' commands on a daily basis," Christine offers, looking back down at the ground. "Regardless, maybe you *do* need to be a little scarier. Honestly? I don't know. I'm not a command-type person and likely never will be. I do know, however, that we have work to do and like it or not, you're the ranking officer and in charge here." This is all said in a soft, gentle tone and garnished with a sweet smile.

Edwards waves the PADD in front of sweet, sweet Hurley. And he actually relaxes some too. "Has anyone ever told you, Ensign... that you're just sugary sweet?" He says it in a pretty neutral tone, not necessarily a good or bad thing. "You think we're screwed?"

Hurley draws in a deep breath and considers. "Well, Ensign Valentine killed a bird during target practice. Ensign Birev has successfully hidden himself, and the more I concentrate during target practice, the more I miss the cans." She purses her lips, then picks up the smile from earlier. "The good news is, I believe we can all hike, and between the three of us, we can probably keep all of our non-weaponry equipment working. But, a ground assault? Honestly, I think the three of us are a serious risk to you three."

"You think we'll make it that far?" Edwards asks simply.

"I wasn't aware there was much of a choice," Hurley responds quickly.

Edwards glances toward the Baer, back to Hurley, and mimes an explosion with his hands. "Boom." He drops his hands. "Am I crazy?"

Hurley clears her throat and bites at her lower lip. "Well, Sir. I don't agree with Ensign Valentine's approach on the subject, but I believe she had a valid point. I can't even begin to think of how we'd contact the station without our communications and encryption equipment on the Baer. That's not something I can't exactly create out of thin air."

"You get that I know that, and it's kind of the point, and kind of beside the point, right?" Edwards asks, in all seriousness.

Hurley nods slowly. "I do get that. And I trust that you wouldn't risk our attempts to get home vainly. And, I'm sure when she approaches Tak, he'll tell her the same thing."

Edwards doesn't look all that sure about it himself. "I don't want to do it." he says. "But, I can't... It's wrong if we don't do something about Jiasha. We can't decry torture, then just give up and standby when our method didn't work."

"You can't blame yourself for your method not working," Hurley states rather bluntly. "She's strong and she's weak at the same time, and we weren't exactly given adequate time to build rapport with her."

Edwards nods slowly. "Yeah, I know. But that doesn't mean we should let them do whatever they want, and even benefit from it..."

Hurley bites at her lower lip again. "Well, it's very difficult for us to dictate our moral beliefs on them, Commander." She shifts on her feet and leans back against another side of the tree. "Can you imagine being Bajoran during the Cardassian Occupation, and one day, the webbing that held the Cardassian Union together unraveled, giving your people a chance to rise up against them? Can you imagine having the opportunity to turn the tables on the Cardassians and ensure they would *never* do that to your people again?"

"There are some things you don't do. You don't torture people. And you don't bomb children!" Edwards insists. "It's just rationalization. And you can't let that get to you. You can't let horrible things like that be rationalized away."

"I'm not," Hurley softly says, turning to look at the commander. "But, *telling* them that they're wrong is getting us nowhere. Informing them that they're no better than that against which they fight makes them defensive against us. We need another approach, Commander. Debating and arguing morals with these people is not working. If we want to save Jiasha, we have to find another way around it than trying to dictate to them."

"What else is there? Telling them doesn't work. Asking them nicely not to do it? Somehow, I don't feel really confident with that plan." Edwards leans his head back against the bark of the tree-thing, looking up it. "With a good threat... I just don't see any other alternative."

Hurley exhales and shakes her head. "I don't have the answers, Sir. I wish I did. I wish I knew of a way to convince every single one of them to live by our standards. But, in their numbers and in their condition, do you think they'd live long? Between you and me, do you think they could survive a war against this Alliance without the equipment we're used to? It's so complicated, Sir."

Edwards drops his head back down, so he can regard Hurley. "It always is. That's why I have to make insane decisions that half my people will think are completely stupid."

"That must be why you have that extra pip," Hurley regards with a quick smile. "I knew there was a reason."

One thing about Alethea: she isn't particularly stealthy. Of course, she isn't really trying to be stealthy, either, as she comes out of the compound, hands stuffed into the pockets of her cardigan-esque jackety sweater... thing. In fact, she's sort of being anti-stealthy. I'm So Not Sneaking Up On You, as it were.

Because of the anti-stealthiness, Edwards notices someone approaching and clamps his mouth shut. When he sees who it is, he relaxes. He opens his mouth, stops, and shuts it. Instead, he waves, to see if she's noticed them.

. o O Edwards thinks "Yeah, yell at the deaf person to get her attention."

Hurley surprised by the silence, Hurley peers over at Edwards, then follows his waves to the approaching Thea. A smile forms on her lips and she reaches into one of the pockets of her jacket for another chocolate bar.

Alethea pulls one of her hands out of its pocket to return the wave, offering a sort of sheepish half-smile. She gestures between Hurley and Edwards, and then pulls her other hand out to sign toward the latter: 'Am I interrupting?' She directs the question toward both with her expression, but clearly only expects Edwards to understand her.

Takamura stalks into the woods, on a hunt for someone in particular. Silently, he approaches the group observing the gathering for a few minutes.

From anti to anti-anti... Edwards doesn't notice the arrival of Takamura just yet, focused on the ladies as he is. Shocking, isn't it? He shakes his head at Alethea and signs, 'Just talking.'

"Is something wrong?" Hurley immediately asks, looking between Thea and Edwards. Someone hasn't been studying the book much, having been distracted with Nifty Toys instead. "Here, I have chocolate for her," she says, obviously to Edwards, though she's looking directly at Thea with a smile and offering of sugary goodness.

'Good.' This is signed toward Edwards, again with a sort of sheepish and self-conscious smile. Looking toward Hurley when she speaks -- catching the motion as she does so -- Thea blinks a couple of times and peers at the chocolate, before looking back at Edwards, brow furrowed. Her hand reaches out for it, but she doesn't take it just yet, apparently a bit confused.

Takamura finally decides to reveal his presence to the others, stepping out into the open. However, he still walks silently. The only thing he offers the others is a nod of his head and a grin.

'It's good.' Edwards informs Thea, offering her a smile. Then he reacts when he spots Takamura. "Geez! You need to stop doing that." he grumbles, shaking his head.

Hurley was smiling to Thea, patiently waiting for her to accept the chocolate, until Edwards' outcry, that is. Edwards' outcry causes her head to snap in Tak's direction, eyes widened. But, fortunately for everyone around, Hurley is far from an over-reactor. A bright smile forms and she declares, cheerfully, "Hey, Tak! I haven't seen you all afternoon."

Alethea doesn't act surprised when Takamura appears out of nowhere; after all, people do that to her all the time. She offers the Japanese man a little nod of her head and turns her attention to unwrapping the chocolate bar with a rather serious and thoughtful expression. Hmmm. What's all this, then?

Takamura smiles broadly at the reaction of Edwards. "I have to practice my stealth sometime, Commander." He says matter of factly. After nodding to Thea, he then turns towards Hurley. "Hello, Chrissy. Apparently, I've been doing a good job of hiding then. How are you?"

Edwards regains his composure and focuses on Thea. Nice Thea. Harmless, non-popping-out-of-nowhere Thea. Besides, she's unwrapping a chocolate bar like it's some sort of scientific experiment. It makes him smile.

"I'm.. alright," Hurley carefully tries, eyeing Tak for a moment before blurting out, "Tara hasn't found you either, has she?"

. o O Takamura thinks "Uh oh. She says that like there is something wrong. Maybe she needs to talk to me in private."

She unwraps the chocolate, and looks down at it for a moment, tilting her head to the side a little. One-handedly, Thea watches Edwards as she awkwardly signs, 'It's... food?' Her expression makes the question-mark on the end of that statement clear.

. o O Alethea thinks "It looks so waxy and... brown. It doesn't look right. What is this? Is this some kind of practical joke? It looks kinda gross."

Takamura shakes his head at Hurley. "No. She hasn't." Quirking a brow at her he asks with some concern. "Is there something wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"

That question gets a nod from Edwards, who repeats the sign for food. He smiles some more and motions for her to have at it. "I'm way too excited to see this." he comments to nobody in particular.

Hurley's attention returns to the exploring deaf-woman with her own smile of pride. She did this. To Tak, she says, still smiling at Thea, "No, not me. Commander Edwards. I'm just the Communications Officer. I deliver communications and direct communications. And now, I'm facilitating the directing of.." she pauses, blinks and looks at Tak, "Just talk to him when you get a moment."

. o O Takamura feels confused at Hurley's statement.

Takamura jerks his head back slightly, looking at Hurley confused. "You just want me to talk to the Commander?"

Alethea breaks off a little piece of chocolate. A little /tiny/ piece. It is, in fact, perhaps only a chocolate /molecule./ There might be /two/ whole chocolate molecules there. Maybe. Gingerly, she places those few molecules onto her tongue, and closes her mouth. Seconds pass, and her eyes widen slightly, then a little more. A larger piece is then broken off, and placed in her mouth to dissolve on her tongue. Thea closes her eyes, standing in rapt silence.

"And she saw that it was good." Edwards remarks, glancing toward the others with a smile. Yes, he's Happy Edwards. "That makes me feel better, until I realize, you know, how I shouldn't feel good, again."

"Nonsense," Hurley states, quite satisfied herself. "Bringing a little joy to these people isn't a bad thing, is it?" Her eyes glance to Tak and she nods. "Yes, I want you to speak with Commander Edwards before Tara finds you and rants about earlier. You'll understand once you guys hash something out." She pauses, then steps a little closer to Tak.

Hurley whispers to Takamura, "We had a long talk earlier, and I don't think anyone is really happy with its conclusion. It'd help if you guys were on the same page as far as Command goes."

Alethea stands very still, completely oblivious to this whole conversation, and allows the chocolate to dissolve on her tongue, slowly working her tongue around in her mouth as she does so. It is a new and exciting taste extravaganza, and her whole self seems invited to pay rapt attention to the World of Chocolate. Ooooo. The corners of her mouth are turned up in a little smile.

. o O Alethea thinks "This is... good doesn't begin to describe it."

Takamura listens to Hurley, nodding to her with a deep sigh. "I see..." He then glances over to Edwards, frowning slightly. "Thank you, Chrissy."

. o O Takamura thinks "Just great, Tara has overreacted to something else now. As much as I hate to disturb his happiness, I'm going to have to talk to the Commander."

Edwards watches Alethea work that chocolate, using her mouth, with those smiling lips, and no doubt inside, with that tongue, and... He jerks his gaze away, over to Takamura, and abruptly moves to pull the other man a few feet away. "We should talk. Now." he remarks.

. o O Edwards thinks "Work work work work work. Jiasha. Torture. Evil. Right."

Hurley steps away from the men as they depart, snatching her DataPADD back from Edwards before he gets too far. She steps closer to Thea, hoping against all hopes that she lip-reads well. "Chocolate," she says slowly, smiling brightly.

Takamura nods curtly to Edwards as he follows him off to the side. "Yes, sir. I actually was looking for you to do just that."

Alethea's eyes open a few seconds after Edwards starts to step away, and she looks confused, a little disoriented, but still mostly smiling. Should she happen to catch his eye thereafter, she'll offer a quick sign for, 'Yes, good,' before turning her attention to Hurley. She flattens her mouth into a line for a moment, before saying, in a self-conscious and atonal voice, a little too loudly, "Talk normal. Not slowly. I understand just fine. I was born deaf." That said, she offers Hurley the sign for 'Good,' and then pops another piece of chocolate in her mouth, working it 'round with her tongue again.

Edwards walks a little bit away before glancing at Takamura. "Jiasha. No luck?" Of course, he looks like he certainly doesn't expect any good news there. "If they haven't cracked her mind open like a coconut yet... well, I decided I wanna make sure they don't."

. o O Takamura thinks "Alright, Hiroshi. We have to talk about her. Just be professional."

Takamura takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Shaking his head, he replies, "No, sir. She completely shut down after you....left. I wasn't able to get her t say anything at all. Not even anything spiteful." He then blinks, raising a brow. "How do you plan on that, sir?"

"We only have one bargaining chip. The Baer." Edwards replies. "I'll tell them that we're gonna take it out of play if they do it."

"I'm sorry," Hurley says to Thea, speaking normally again. She attempts to mimic the sign for 'good', and goes on to speak directly to her. "It's one of my favorite treats at home. If mixed with coffee and chilled, it's *really* good, but I don't need to bore you with that." She casts a glance back in Edwards and Tak's direction, clears the screen of her datapadd and hands it to Thea. "You can use this to type right now, if you need. If you'd like, I can probably have one replicated tonight, too."

Takamura hmmms as he considers that. "What if they have already done it? I mean, it's not like we've been able to keep an eye on her all day."

Taking the PADD from Hurley, Thea folds the rest of the chocolate up in its wrapper and stashes it in her pocket for later. 'Thank you. This is a very small PADD compared to the ones I've seen. It's almost sleek. Very pretty.' A pause, and she continues tapping away, stealing the occasional glance at Edwards and Takamura. Okay, at Edwards. 'You don't need to do that. Thank you. This chocolate is very good.'

Edwards doesn't have an answer to that. He just looks at Takamura, tiredly and less than hopeful. After a moment, he shrugs and looks backs toward the others.

Hurley beams at Thea, placing a hand on her arm to get her attention. "I want to do that for you. They're really wonderful devices." She removes her hand, but continues talking. "You can use them for journalling, for storing whatever information you need to, and whatever else."

Takamura glances over his shoulder, then turns back to Edwards. "Ensign Hurley said that there was something that we needed to get on the same page about before Ensign Valentine sees me. Was this that topic, sir? Or is there something else?"

Alethea catches Edwards' eye briefly at his glance, and waves the PADD toward him. Engineer with new toy, and chocolate! See! Happy Thea! Be happy, please. Worry creases the corners of her eyes, even as Hurley's hand on her arm draws her back into that conversation. She taps away on the device after watching Hurley's face carefully. 'I kind of figured that much. We do have PADDs. Just not as little and sleek as this one. /Why/ do you want to do this for me?'

"This. I guess we better find out about Jiasha, eh?" Edwards replies, returning his attention to Takamura. He motions for him to follow and wanders back toward the other two. There, he reaches out to tap the PADD, before asking, "Thea? Has Nabrun seen Jiasha yet?"

Takamura nods agains as he dutifully follows Edwards back to the others.

Hurley says, just before Edwards' grand reentrance, "Because you've been the kindest and most patient with .." She stops, though, with all attention falling on Edwards, smile disappearing and expression becoming a little more solemn.

Alethea looks distinctly uncomfortable at Edwards's question, shivering from the top of her head right down into her very well-worn shoes. She shrugs a little, placing the PADD back in Hurley's hands with an apologetic glance, before raising her hands to sign to the Commander. 'Hard to be sure. She doesn't need to /see/ her. I didn't ask, and no one told me.'

. o O Alethea feels a quiet sort of sympathy for Barana, even as she's horrified by her.

. o O Alethea thinks "I'd probably end up just as crazy, if something... oh, no. Don't think that. Don't think that with him standing right here. Then they'll both die. Don't think it."

Thorne reappears from the compound proper, hands shoved in his pockets as he moves.

Edwards looks fairly unsatisfied with that answer. 'Who do we ask?' he replies. "She doesn't know." he interprets, glancing toward Takamura with a shrug.

Hurley watches Thea and Edwards quietly and takes a step back to ensure she doesn't end up in the middle of this conversation.

Takamura sighs heavily, nodding slowly to Edwards. "I'm not surprised by that. They might think she's gotten too close to us."

Stewart steps out of the shuttle, looking around, and then vaguely meanders towards people. "I got a message saying people want to talk to me?"

'Hiroshi or Dana,' Thea signs back, casting an apologetic glance toward Hurley. 'Randal might know. Or nobody might. Barana is very weird. I dunno.' She shakes her head slightly at Takamura, looking disturbed by his theorizing. Her expression is a little offended and rather hurt when she signs to Edwards again. 'I don't pay attention. I never did. They tell me what needs fixing, I fix it, they don't involve me in that stuff. I'm no good at it, that's all. They trust me. This is my /family./'

. o O Hurley thinks "Hah. I /TOLD/ him that's why they all learned sign language."

Thorne trudges over to the group, offering a wan smile to Thea and remaining silent.

Edwards looks back toward Takamura after reading Thea's signs. "She's didn't appreciate your guess. She said they just don't involve her in that stuff usually. Apologize." Oh, hey, there's Randal now. He glances toward the approaching man. "Have you heard about Jiasha?"

Hurley's eyebrows raise in response to Edwards, but her attention is drawn back towards the Baer as Stewart departs the shuttlecraft. She waves him towards the group, muttering to him softly. "Yeah, just a moment, though."

. o O Takamura sighs. Gee, I have to apologize for making a guess.

Stewart heads over to stand with the others, looking a little confused as he looks from face to face. Nothing says out of the loop like stasis.

Thorne raises both of his eyebrows. "Not recently, no."

Takamura lets out a sigh as he looks from Edwards to Thea. "I'm sorry." He then turns his attention to Stewart as he arrives on scene. "Hey, Jimmy. Good to see you out and about again."

. o O Thorne thinks "I really hope that Minos was able to talk some sense into her, though."

. o O Thorne gets the creeps again as Barana crosses his mind.

Alethea shrugs a little at Takamura. She's not terribly offended, just a little bit so. She offers Stewart an awkward smile and a little wave as he approaches, chewing on her lower lip some and glancing 'round. For the first time, at least so far, she looks uncomfortable, realizing she's surrounded now by Starfleet Officers.

. o O Alethea is self-conscious now in the wake of Takamura's comment.

Edwards grunts in frustration. "Then I guess I'll find out." He glances around at everyone once more before he moves off to head inside the compound.

Hurley watches Edwards move off, glances to Thea and Thorne, then mutters to Tak and Stewart rather quickly and quietly, "He's going to get himself into trouble."

Stewart looks over towards Takamura, "Well, hey, got a message. And figured that people's frustration tolerances were probably back to close to where they started out. I hear people have been getting along rather well."

Alethea wrinkles up her brow in brief confusion, and glances at Thorne with an almost helpless expression on her face before turning to grab on to Edwards's arm briefly, stepping along after him as if to both slow him down and follow him. She doesn't sign at all, her expression asks as much as any signs could about whether or not she can or should come along.

Takamura starts after Edwards. "Let me go with you, sir." Over his shoulder, he says to Stewart, "That's a matter of perspective. Chrissy, get Jimmy up to speed."

"All I know is that Minos went to see her," Thorne offers, keeping his gaze on Thea. "That's been... a while ago."

Edwards hesitates when Alethea grabs his arm, glancing at her. When he sees her expression, he nods off in the direction he's heading, and keeps on trucking, so to speak. And he just looks all the grimmer when Minos is mentioned.

Hurley's face falls at the mention of Minos, too, but she simply nods to Tak. "Randal, could I please have a moment alone with Lieutenant Stewart?"

Stewart thumbs off down the way a bit, and says, "We could just move along ourselves, of course. Though it looks like things are splitting into two groups."

Thorne rubs at the bridge of his nose, turning without a word and heading out a distance into the trees to settle and stare at the stars.

. o O Thorne thinks "When history looks back at what we're doing here, will we be heroes or villains?"

Alethea follows along with Edwards, then, tagging along like, well, a puppy, almost. A self-conscious puppy that really dislikes its puppiness but really doesn't feel like it can HELP said puppiness, but damnit, a puppy nonetheless. She stuffs her hands into her cardigan's pockets, and a second later is dropping a piece of chocolate into her mouth. Mmm, endorphins.

Takamura also follows Edwards, a stoic expression forming on his face.

Edwards heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Edwards has left.

Takamura heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Takamura has left.

Alethea heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Alethea has left.

Edwards enters the compound and glances around. His gaze finally settles on Alethea, and he inquires, "Where's Hiroshi?" Then he resumes walking toward nowhere in particular, since he isn't sure where to go.

'Probably standing guard,' Alethea observes, shrugging a little. 'That's what he was going to do last I heard.' She chews absently on her lower lip, and gestures back toward the tunnel that leads to the holding area. Such as it is.

Takamura follows close on the heels of Edwards, glancing down the corridor when Thea motions towards it.

Edwards' aimlessness finds aim, heading toward the tunnel that leads into the holding area. "I was gonna pick that too..." he mutters to himself. Ah well. He strides on with purpose.

Hiroshi is, in fact, standing guard outside Jiasha's cell, such as it is. He's more sitting guard outside it, as he's currently reading something off of a PADD about twice the size of a standard Federation one. Alethea hangs back a little, looking a little sheepish and more than a bit confused. Instinct -- or learned behavior so deeply ingrained it might as well be -- says to stay close to Edwards. Her brain points out the logical fallacy in this.

Edwards makes his way toward the cell, making note of Hiroshi's presence as he approaches. When he reaches it, he goes to peer inside as he asks, "Has Nabrun done her job yet?" It's asked about as calmly as he can ask it... which ain't all that calm. This all agitates him.

After a moment spent blinking at Edwards, Hiroshi calmly asks, "Why?" It's a simple enough question, but he puts quite a bit of patient thought into even asking it. Thea, on the other hand, looks like she might flee at any moment.

Takamura takes a deep breath as they get to the cells, but he doesn't look in, He just stands nearby listening to the conversation.

Edwards visibly restrains himself after that question. He's a lot more high-strung than either Takamura. "Because I'm curious." he answers. "It's rather important, isn't it? Going to affect the mission we're both going on?"

. o O Takamura thinks "Come on, Commander keep it together."

"It is," confirms Hiroshi. "Barana has not been in to see her. Minos has, however, and we have the command codes." He leans against the wall, patiently staring down at Edwards. "If you are intending to check up on her, Commander, I'll be glad to lower the force field for you."

Takamura gives Edwards a look to calm down. When Hiroshi mentions that the command codes have been acquired, he raises a brow.

. o O Takamura thinks "I wonder what he did to get them from her. And what they plan on doing with her next."

Edwards, despite evidence to the contrary, does possess self-control. That's how he forces himself to smile a humorless smile. "Please." he says, turning back toward the cell, so he can step inside when the field's lowered.

Alethea doesn't go anywhere near the opening to the cell; she slides along the wall, staring at the opening as if it were a portal right into hell. She gnaws her lower lip a little and watches the interaction between Edwards and Hiroshi: she's only getting half of it at most.
Hiroshi steps aside, tapping a couple of buttons on the old force field, and it drops. Inside, Jiasha lies on her side, apparently sleeping. Her eyes are closed, and her breathing is slow and regular.

Takamura stands next to Thea, not wanting to look inside. So, he focuses his attention on the rebels instead.

Edwards does make his way inside, intent on finding out what's what. He makes his way over to Jiasha, just looking down at her a moment before he reaches down to shake her shoulder. "Jiasha? Jiasha?" Not at all rough, of course, but insistent.

. o O Takamura thinks "Must stay focused. Don't get caught in the same trap as last night.""

Shifting her head on the arm she's using as a pillow, Jiasha half-opens her eyes, drawing in a low, slow breath. Her eyes focus vaguely on Edwards, blank and vacant, though whether that's from exhaustion or something else is impossible to tell as of yet.

Edwards moves his hand from her shoulder to tap at her face, trying to get her to focus more. "Jiasha? Are you with me?" he inquires with real concern. "Come on now... Talk to me."

A look of annoyance and weariness crosses Jiasha's face, and she declines to answer, instead turning her face away from the tap. She rolls over slowly, turning away from Edwards.

"Oh, for..." Edwards straightens and looks out of the cell. "This isn't telling me anything. Except that everyone around here is possibly insane." He shakes his head and looks back to Jiasha. "The least you could do is give me some reason to try and keep helping you."

"Why?" This is all Jiasha asks, so quietly that it's barely audible, even in the emptiness of her cave-cell.

Edwards almost gives up. Until he just picks up that one-word question. It's a good thing he's pretty perceptive. He leans down, closer to her, and replies, "Because I want to help you. Nobody deserves to go through what you have so far."

"Ah." That's all Jiasha says, a soft sound that's not entirely a word. "Maybe that's reason enough." She sighs tiredly, adding, "I haven't got other ones."