Sigma: Debrief

[Nick Ryder]

Terra Alpha Naval Medical Center - Secure Wing 4th Floor

Nick Ryder stood near the cell that he was working on, trying to make it a bit more secure and escape proof. Clint Cross was standing off to the side looking at a padd while Nick added layer after layer of electronic security to the 8x8 cell. Mechanical locking, electronic counter locks, 'booby traps', and gas emitters.

"Little overkill huh?" Clint mused.

"You don't think I kept locking you up and telling you to escape was just a 'fun' exercise was it?" Nick replied with a smirk. "Was fun for me at least."

"I thought you were being a dick." Clint replied. "But yeah... I had a feeling you were developing something. So you think this'll hold evil me?"

"If it doesn't... we vaporize him and that'll deal with him." Nick said and closed up the panel he was working on. "Done. I hope we can get at least something out of him, some little tidbit we can use."

"Like I'm so talkative..." Clint said with a cross of his arms.

"Selene gives you a pouty look and unzips her catsuit and you melt." Nick cocked his head. "If there's one thing we can count on, it's Clints and Selenes having history."

"Yeah well... he cut off a Selene's head and stuffed it... that's fuckin' sick." Clint stuck his tongue out and shivered. "Talk about getting head."

"So mature dad." James said as he walked in with the security team. "So... forty eight guys... think it's overkill?"

"Nope... " Clint replied and gave James a one armed hug. "You give Doc Tess those messages?"

"I did, hugged her for like a half hour." James said and closed his eyes. "She's really depressed. Never seen her like that."

"At least we got the son of a bitch." Nick said and tapped his comm. "Black Widow, transport when you're ready. Sorry about the wait. Had to ensure these cells were secure enough to stop someone smarter than your husband."

[Selene Cross]

"I wouldn't say he's smarter. More annoying perhaps but certainly not smarter." Selene said as she materialized with Bartyn. "Clint also has better choice of hair cuts and he knows not to underestimate me."

Selene shoved Bartyn into the cell and quickly shut the door.

"Don't look so sad Bartyn the cells here are pretty comfortable compared to most." Selene said and smile apologetically. "I'm sorry all we could get you was a mattress on the floor. Maybe if you hadn't stuff my head in another reality I could have pushed for a pillow."

[Nick Ryder]

Nick crossed his arms as he looked at Bartyn. "Yeah Clint's got way better fashion sense. Ever since I introduced him to my tailor." he gave Selene a nod. "Did good work, still has everything intact. Those new bites really pack a punch. One of dad's guards were testing them on another guard... idiots but they work. Decker at SHIELD has one of my self deploying stun drone prototypes. By the way, Sharpe's out." he pulled over a screen. "Must have been working with the Ajem. So what would the Ajem be doing here?"

"I don't have to tell you anything... hell, kill me... doesn't matter. Soon you probably won't even be matter." Bartyn replied.

"Quoting MIB..." Nick glanced at his skin being rather pale. "Must have been holed up somewhere waiting for a while. Still, you're not the Clint Cross I know. Although I am curious about something now..." he put his hand on the door. "The Iljuna is strong with you. Stronger than I've sensed with our Clint."

"Maybe he's not living up to his true potential... playing with his little bows and arrows and paperwork." Bartyn muttered.

[Selene Cross]

“I say we bring Kinsey in and let her go dark side on him.” Selene said thoughtfully and shook her head. “He isn’t worth her time or ours. He’ll sing eventually.”

[Nick Ryder]

"Oh I've had the thought cross my mind." Nick said as he looked at the table full of gear that the transporter beamed off of him. "Nice kilden, a bit raw compared to others, but not new. Nice set of gear... I'd expect no less." he tapped a control on the cell that blocked it off entirely from all sound and essentially turned it into a sealed box. "Now... Selene... what the hell did they want up there?"

[Selene Cross]

“He wanted me to hack the security system.” Selene said with a slight shrug. “I would have expect more force but it still wouldn’t have gotten him much. He did mention they were getting paid. I got the feeling he’s a merc.”

[Nick Ryder]

"Wouldn't be the first merc Ajem I've seen. Younger acolytes that can't hack it with the order." Nick replied. "Or older ones that know they can't make Master so they work for others for pay. Move shit with your mind, sense the future, that's marketable." he looked at some of the other pieces of his gear. "Crotch gun... useful." he shook his head. "Well, if they got the current codes and we had Sigma scuttled, Theta will have to take the bulk of the traffic until the shipyard can pump out a new one. Which we'll need because the Narlin Emperor's ship was attacked and he, his wife and child and the young version of my mom are considered dead. Never should have let her go. So... I bury my dad and a young version of my mom from another reality. So in some other reality there won't ever be a Nick Ryder or Natalia or Tony or Jenny."

[Selene Cross]

“And in some reality there isn’t a Kaitlyn or Isabella Cross. But I don’t think you should write off Magnus just yet. He went to bat for Bella when no one else would. She will want us to search the galaxy until we know for sure because she owes him a debt. You wouldn’t be standing here other wise.” Selene said matter of fact and nodded towards Bartyn. “And that bastard may know something he may not. Eventually we’ll find out but in the mean time we keep looking.”

[Nick Ryder]

"We may need to get Jack or one of the other telepaths in to break through it." Nick said and tapped a few buttons on the wall of the cell. "And THAT will ensure he can't do any mind tricks on anyone to get him out of here. He can't sense out and I can't sense in, based it on something they use at Monastery to train Jase to not only trust the Iljuna but also their other senses." he put his hand on Selene's shoulder. "And I'm not writing Magus off, the Narlin Empire may have, but I'm not... he's one of the few heads of state I consider a real friend. That's probably why they wanted Sigma and the sensor net access, so we can't easily track what happened. Probably left a lot of debris, lot of dead Narlins and probably a little Terran in the mix. Enough for all of us to write them off. Gee... sounds familiar." he rolled his eyes and sighed. "I tell you, I would be thrilled to find out that my father was in some cell somewhere with his guards. But... unless they cloned him and his guards... " he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You don't quite get the vision of seeing half of your father's lifeless body in one room and half in the other room. I felt him through the Iljuna. Told me 'don't be a dick, better this than suffering.' he was in more pain than he let on."

[A'mira Stormborn]

A'mira approached, "We haven't written him off either, but we had to maintain the government. Enemies of the House Stormtalon would use the vacuum to seize control. Kahlina doesn't want it." She extended her hand in the human custom, "Agent A'mira Stormborn Narlin Intelligence. I have something that might be of use. It doesn't always work, but we have used it many times. What is the human expression? To get them to 'Sing like a goldfish'? What's a goldfish? Do you have other sentient lifeforms on Earth?"

She dug into a pouch on her belt and withdrew a syringe. It was fill with a putrid looking compound, and had a rather long, and thick needle. "It hurts a lot when you inject them. The threat often works wonders. But, if that doesn't do it the serum usually gets them to talk."