Star Trek: Terra Alpha

Manufacturing District - Outskirts of Capitol City --

The darkened warehouse was lit by a single light fixture, shining on a tied up figure in a chair, covered with a sheet and bound with metal bands.

"Now... you could be a jackass and continue to keep your mouth shut or you can tell me what we need to know and you can be out of that uncomfortable chair." a tall man with a vocalizer mask on said as he patted a Klingon pain stick in his other hand.

"I ain't tellin' you nothin! I don't snitch. Do your worst cabrone!" the man said from under the sheet.

"Right... " the man said and whacked his back with the inactivated pain stick. "It's all very noble, no snitching, I can respect that even. But I really do not have the time nor inclination to play games." he sparked up the pain stick and saw him flinch under the sheet.

"Whatever man... you're just like all those other Alliance dickheads." he chuckled. "You won't..."

The masked man hit him right in the chest with the painstick causing him to scream so loud it echoed through the entire warehouse.

"Sigh... I'm not like all those 'Alliance dickheads', now... tell me, where did the shipment that was stolen two nights ago and the shuttle that was carrying it go?"

"We didn't steal nothin."

"You stole something. Something very important and I know your friends did it. Now... I can make things harder on them than I am making them on you. They won't be able to shit without one of my men waiting to twist their necks off." He snarled and struck him again. "NOW TELL ME!"

"I want assurances..."

"I won't kill you if that's what you're after."

"I want protection... new ID, money the works. I go back and they find out I told you I'm a dead man."

"You're a dead man if you keep playing games, I'll let them know you told me everything even if you didn't. Good luck trying to prove that you didn't rat."

"I want..." he started to say and then was hit with the pain stick.

"You'll get what you're deserved and due for your cooperation, this isn't a negotiation, and you're hardly due any kind of due process, you're a criminal, a thief and a murderer ten times over. You're lucky I needed intel out of you or you'd be a pile of dust." He said and grabbed the man by the throat. "Now... TELL ME!"

"Slip 38... Riley Port Dock... it's where... it's where the guys stash all their stuff until it can be fenced or moved. Heat comes down, we just sink the boat." He replied and tried to catch his breath. "That's all I know, honest."

"You get that." he said into his lapel.

"Yep... and I've already got eyes. Good work. Although you know this won't hold up in court." a voice replied on the other side.

"Like I care? I just want my shipment back before its entirely wasted." he said and threw the pain stick on the ground and walked out of the warehouse before removing his mask. "I caught one of the bangers and got information out of him, you're lucky I didn't just kill him. But... I'm not the despot I once was."

"To which we thank you." Ang'Jhu replied and sighed. "I'll have security pick him up, find him a nice cozy cell. Rap sheet is a mile long, if I wanted to see it on one screen I'd need to put it on the Big Board."

"We are far too soft on these criminals." Noonian replied and pulled off his gloves. "When you find my shipment, have it beamed to SoongSystems Tower. It's technically AlphaTek, but if Natalia finds out I was the one that got it back, she'll make me sleep on the couch. She dislikes when I get my hands dirty like this."

"But you enjoyed it, admit it." Ang chuckled.

"I did. But I am a family man now and a respected scientist... not a cop." Noonian said and tapped his earpiece and looked at the petite red head in the driver's seat of the car. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing... just funny to hear you more afraid of mom than you are of people knowing Khan patrols the streets looking for crooks." she said with a smirk.

"Remind me to discourage your younger counterpart from talking..." Noonian teased. "Just get me back to the Tower, your mother is waiting. By the way... thank you."

"Of course." she winked her eye and smiled. "Too bad you didn't let me in on the interrogation."

"Last time you interrogated someone they got obsessed with you and tried to break out of prison thinking that you really were going to... mate with them." Noonian said with a laugh.

"Good point. I'm also the face of First Ladies First fashion since Alice buggered off and I at least have an English accent thanks to you." she said and drove out of the complex. "So that ore you ordered... you think it'll work for what we've been planning?"

"Of course. But it degrades over time, unless its processed, so hopefully it's still good, but if I can process it, I'll be able to crack the last piece of the programmable matter and bio implant puzzle I've been struggling with. I can make new bones, limbs, whatever... it's exciting work. If I can finish it otherwise, I'll have to crawl on my hands and knees and apologize to Natalia for spending an entire year's budget on it."

"I'm sure she'll forgive you, besides... and this is something she told me as a teenager, you rock her world." Nora said with a sly grin. "She'd never leave you. Granted you two fought and bickered but usually a day or two later, I'd hear the make up sex."

Noonian smiled and grimaced. "That loud huh? I even made sure..."

"Doesn't work when you do it against the window and my bedroom was just above yours." Nora said and cleared her throat. "It used to ick me out but... as I grew up. I realized that not everyone's parents had what you two have. Although I recall making sure you had boxes of rubbers and pills in your drawer, I did not want to be in high school and having a little brother or sister. Not that mom wanted another either, but there was a period when you two were insatiable. Like... multiple times a day. Even Olivia was a bit impressed at mom's stamina."

"She is an impressive woman and... why am I talking about... with my daughter?" Noonian said with a laugh.

"Just saying... she won't hate you forever. Besides, if you need help... I would be happy to. Not like I have any shoots lined up for a few weeks and I always promised myself, if the opportunity arose to work with you in the lab, I would do it. It's... kind of a regret from my era. You asked, I kept refusing or was too busy. Then... I got stuck here, I'll never see my version of you again so... I'm not wasting it."

"I hope my Nora is as impressive as you kid." Noonian said and sighed. "So... dumb question... do I ever figure this out?"

"I have no idea, you never even started on this in my timeline, this is something completely off my books, so... who knows. But it'd be cool if you could figure it out." Nora looked at her wrist. "SKIN tech only works so well and buffer bands can't create matter or reconfigure it out of nothing."

"It would also completely change how we look at construction." Noonian said with a smile. "The same concept could be applied to so many things. So tell me something Nora... since we never really do get these moments together. Why in the world are you not married yet? You're a beautiful girl, intelligent, strong..."

"I intimidate men. Either they think I'm way out of their league because they've seen me on billboards, or in magazines or whatever, they're threatened by my intelligence. Or because you're my dad. Or mum's my mom." Nora replied and sighed. "That's part of the reason I signed up to come back in time nothing really for me back home that I couldn't do here, probably a better chance here since its not super well known that you're my father. Of course, it doesn't help when you used to 'just happen' to have a scimitar sword on your hip when you greeted any boyfriends or anyone with with a lower GPA was deemed 'not good enough'. Mom backed you up too."

"Well child, you are welcome to join me in this research and you know you don't 'have' to model to make ends meet... you can be well taken care of otherwise." Noonian said with a warm smile.

"Oh I know, but I enjoy it. Even if I bitch about it from time to time. Plus, most of the other models are Doctoral candidates or have advanced degrees. Alice made sure to make smart sexy. No one has anything less than a Master Degree or anything less than a child prodigy at least." Nora chuckled lightly. "You and mum always told me to be comfortable with my body and that it's nothing to be ashamed of. I think you two did a great job... even if I didn't always appreciate it at the time."