Sigma: Debrief

[Nick Ryder]

"I don't think a threat would work..." Nick said as he looked at Selene. "Would it work on you?"

[Selene Cross]

Selene took the syringe and examined it thoughtfully.

“No but subjected to enough pain anyone would crack.” Selene replies matter of fact.

[A'mira Stormborn]

"You don't understand. This is a truth serum. The big scary needle is but part of its function. Only a sufficiently trained mind can resist this. It is used on perspective agents. Burns like hell when injected," she added.

[Nick Ryder]

"Ajem are usually trained to resist it, but who knows... although most spies are trained to resist truth serum, even ones that hurt." Nick replied. "Especially if you dose yourself regularly."

[A'mira Stormborn]

"Well, the way I see it; you try this, or you wait for a telepath with sufficient skill. Abuse, and threat of death rarely work. They just end up telling you anything to stop it."

[Tess Ryder]

Tess walked into Nick's "command center" and shook her head when she heard A'mira's suggestions. "Absolutely not... there will be no torture of prisoners in MY hospital. We are not the Imperium or Dominus... " she walked up to Nick and Selene "You are honestly not going to allow that are you? Wait for a telepath."

[A'mira Stormborn]

"I believe I specifically advised against torture. Here," she took the syringe from Selene and buried it in her thigh. She depressed the plunger, and winced in pain. "There, now I'm not advocating something I wouldn't do to myself. We have to know what happened to the Emperor."

[Tess Ryder]

Tess groaned and shook her head. "Dammit... Julie did that once and I spent the next two days treating her. Is that in your spies playbook or something? Inject yourself with poison?" she tapped her buffer band bracelet and pulled up an antidote. "I should just let you ride it out like the badass you think you are... but you're in my house and no one suffers unduly in my hospital."

"Mom has spoken." Nick said in a deep voice.

"Damn right she has." Tess said and gave Selene a wink. "I was right wasn't I? Once you have a kid, you find you're the CO of the house. Stamp a high heel on a hard floor and they know mom is not happy and magically they shape up. Leo used to tease me about always being in skirts and heels, claimed my 'casual' was a pair of flats and no stockings. He'd look at my shocked if I ever wore pants or jeans." she looked at her ring. "So this Traveler of Clint did it?" she walked up to the cell and just looked at him. "He has the cold heart of an Ajem who had nothing to lose. I can tell that without even 'sensing' him, just the look in his eyes, on his face."

"You think you know me, but you don't... that will be your downfall Doctor." Bartyn said through the speaker that picked up his voice.

"I don't know... I think I know you very well Mr. Bartyn." Tess said and crossed her arms. "Your mother died on your watch didn't she?"

"How... thefuck did you know that? No one knows that." Bartyn said as he looked at her. "You're reading my mind?"

"Hardly, decades of being a therapist." Tess said calmly. "I saw your expressions while I was talking to my son and Selene about being a mom. You tensed and softened for a moment." she pointed to her eyes. "Spies aren't the only ones who have to be observant. But 'mom died' is hardly an excuse for the murders that you and the Ajem are responsible for today."

[A'mira Stormborn]

"It's not poison," A'mira protested. Her words slurred ever so slightly. "Every agent is injected with this so it cannot be said we don't know what it's like. They also teach us how to resist its effects by using it. It's also part of the interview process. Much more effective than a polygraph."

[Nick Ryder]

"Ajem are not normal." Nick replied as he looked at Bartyn's cell. "I don't want his cell opened until I've got a more solid detention solution in place." he pointed to a control panel. "Sedative control. I'm not letting him hurt anyone else. We lost a lot of Marines a lot of Officers on that station and..." he glanced at his comm that was flashing. "One sec..." he picked it up, read the message and threw it against the wall so violently that it actually embedded itself in the wall.

"What's wrong?" Tess asked as she went over to the wall and tried to pull the communicator out. "What happened? Don't throw a temper tantrum and not say anything!"

"Trinity got her hand cut off... " Nick said as he angrily packed up some of his tools. "This son of a bitch does NOT leave this cell under any circumstances." he pointed at the cell. "One of his fucking Ajem acolytes cut her hand off and he was going to use it... " he had to mentally restrain himself from letting the fireball that wanted to manifest itself in his hand from forming.

"I'll call Angel." Tess said as she looked at the other comm panel.

"I'll be up on the Erebus. Stormborn, guard the prisoner... Selene, stay here with mom." Nick said as he slipped on a pair of his special glasses. "BECKI beam me to the Erebus now. Sickbay... no scratch that. Micro electronics lab, engineering section, section 38. And beam Project Hand to me."

"Of course sir... but... without a guard?" BECKI inquired.

"I can take care of myself and it's fucking Erebus, there's enough friendlies there." Nick snapped back. "Now, beam me there, now!"

"Beaming..." she said and Nick was immediately transported to the ship.