1087: For Ledbetter or for Worse

By Jamie Halliday and Ashton Ledbetter
100515.1300
After Two Different Men, Too Little Time

-=Main engineering, Poseidon=-

Ashton bit down on the knuckle of his index finger, as he tried to devise their next move. The longer he stared at the screen, the more he realized exactly what the final pieces to the puzzle of the Poseidon’s jump drive were. He willed himself to look away from the screen, as if that would drive the clarity of the picture from his mind.

Ledbetter could not help but wonder if the persons responsible for the Manhattan Project felt anything like he did now. The terrifying dread of knowing your work may be a success, when despite all your hard work, you were hoping to fail. Was this what it felt like to know you were on the verge of creating a weapon of unimaginable power, to be used by a man whose intentions were completely unknown to you?

There was no knowing exactly what the plans for this ship were. Destroying the Sera may only be the first blow in a war that could consume the quadrant. Then again, denying him his prize could be equally as dangerous. Ashton could only do what he thought was best, no matter how crazy anyone else thought his plans were.

The question still came down to though just what was best under these circumstances. He felt like a man being told that he couldn’t stay still but the only thing worse than going forwards was going backwards, left or right. Any way he looked at it, any action he took, the Sera and perhaps the entire galaxy were almost certain to lose. Under those circumstances many would say all a man can do is to try to look out for his own win and to hope everyone else could do the same.

Dealing with Brody was going to be difficult, however. The man could see through any subterfuge, charade, pretense or scam-o-la. He was intelligent. Damn intelligent. Perhaps even more intelligent than Ashton himself, but if so, not by much. He would see through any request made for the sake of the Sera. He would recognize any lies about what Ashton really wanted. The only way Ashton would ever hold his attention more than a few moments was to actually be Ashton, which meant looking out only for himself.

He straightened his uniform, and his hair… twice. Ashton then gave Jamie a knowing glance. Though there were some members of the crew he wouldn’t have given a second or even first thought to leaving to fend for themselves, he even gave it a third in the case of Jamie Halliday. He could only hope that somehow the young man would know enough to do what he had to do and to stay safe when Ashton couldn’t protect him.

“Carry on while I’m gone. I hope you can figure out what I could not,” Ashton said simply. Then without further delay, he marched straight up to Powell. The man looked down at Ledbetter as a man would look at a child that had interrupted his reading of the newspaper one too many times.

“What?”

“I need to speak to Tucker Brody.”

“Why?” Powell folded his arms across his chest suspiciously.

“Because if I’m going to give him what he wants, I have demands that I expect to be met.” Ashton braced himself, as he was unsure what was going to come next. Whatever it was he hoped it was not the butt end of a blunt object that might permanently disfigure the smooth sloping curves of his perfectly sculpted chin.

Powell luckily was in no mood to either argue or disfigure over it. Brody brought them aboard and Brody could handle their demands if he wanted to be the big boss. Every moment Ledbetter and Halliday spent here was another moment something might go horribly wrong that Powell would pay for with his career. Given his current circumstances and the general lack of a retirement plan from large scale conspiracy organizations, that effectively meant losing his life.

“Fine.”

“Now listen here, I will not be…” Ashton began to argue his point, before realizing that Powell had in fact agreed to his request. “Be… delayed another moment. Let’s go then!”

“We’re not going anywhere,” Powell replied, shaking his head.

“Fine, I’ll find my own way then,” Ashton answered, preparing to leave. The way Powell’s nearest guards quickly stood much taller however seemed to suggest that that wasn’t a good idea.

“You’re not going anywhere either.”

Ashton then game Powell a look which suggested he was either stupid, wasting both their time, or an unfortunate mixture of the two. “I told you. I want to talk to Brody. Or do you want to be the one to explain it to him when his precious drive doesn’t get repaired?”

“Brody doesn’t want you out walking around the ship and neither do I. Either he comes here or you don’t talk to him.”

Ashton was quite prepared to whine in protest but he knew that with Brody he’d need to put on a strong front. Even when your frustrations had clearly earned it, as he felt his pretty much always had, complaining about them rarely seemed to do that.

“Fine, in that case we’ll use your office.”

Powell’s face showed he was clearly unhappy about this suggestion but nevertheless he didn’t argue. He simply hit his combadge.

“Powell to Brody.”

[What is it now, Powell?] Brody answered in a tone which clearly suggested that whatever he was doing he didn’t wish to be interrupted.

“It’s Ledbetter. He it demanding to talk to you.”

Even without seeing his face, everyone here could tell that Brody’s expression would convey he put very little stock in anything Ashton demanded from him.

[Tell him ta get back ta work. Then make it very clear he is not to contact me again until he knows how ta fix the drive.]

“But I already do!” Ashton protested, leaning in and somewhat uncomfortably yelling into Powell’s chest.

With that, you could almost hear Brody’s eyebrow rising. He did however offer no words in response, allowing Ashton to continue. “And since I’m the only one who knows how, you really shouldn’t hurt me.”

[Perhaps,] Brody mused. [I could still destroy your ship though.]

“If you did then you’d be in the exact same position you are now except without that bargaining chip, and my demands would only have increased,” Ledbetter argued. “My requests now however are not at all unreasonable.”

There was a brief pause as Brody considered this information.

[Alright, Captain,] Brody decided, figuring that the worst that could happen was he discovered that Ashton was lying and wasted a little time. [I’m coming down.]

Ashton them smiled as Brody closed the channel. It was a small amount because of his achievement in getting Brody to come here. It was much more however because of the fact that at least until the end of his meeting with Brody, Powell would not be allowing anyone here to kill him. That was a great relief off Ashton’s shoulders.

“Now, if you’ll show me to your office…”

-=/\=-

Ashton soon found himself standing in this woefully undersized and poorly decorated excuse for a Chief Engineer’s office. Clearly Powell lacked even the most basic sense of style in that there was nothing more here than a cheap desk and a couple of chairs on either side. Granted, it wasn’t like they’d actually stopped anywhere that sold expensive art, or anywhere at all for that matter, but there still really was no excuse to have been so drably unprepared as this.

There was however at least one preparation he seemed to have made. In one of the drawers of his desk that Ashton had opened, hoping to discover a weapon or at least some blackmail worthy pictures of Powell in a dress, he had discovered a bottle of scotch and two glasses. It was cheap synthaholic swill, but there was still nothing that said backroom deal like two men and two glasses of scotch.

So Ashton had poured the beverage for each of them, though based around the label he decided that he wouldn’t actually be drinking his, and then took his seat. At first he’d considered that he should have taken the official desk chair, like he belonged here and Brody was the visitor, however he doubted Brody would have reacted well to that.

Besides, experience had taught him that asserting ones power in a situation wasn’t always about stopping the other guy from getting what he wanted. Sometimes it was about letting him get exactly what he wanted and knowing that it was because you were letting him.

Of course he could just have well asserted his bargaining power by standing while Brody sat, which he knew was just the type of trick Brody would do himself, but the problem was that then Brody would probably just stand too and they’d end up in the same situation but with tired legs. So overall he was happy with his chosen position at the moment Brody walked in through the door.

“Scotch?” Ashton offered up the glass by lifting it from the desk and holding it out towards Brody. Tucker took the glass and downed it in one swig, thereby eliminating distraction from the conversation in the most efficient way possible.

“What is it you would like to say?” Brody asked, crossing his arms behind his back. Ashton noticed something about his stance. It was just a bit too rigid, and Brody was definitely leaning a bit towards the door. He didn’t want to be here, not because Ashton was annoying him, but because he seemed anxious to be somewhere else. Ledbetter could not help but wonder exactly what he was interrupting.

“A deal.” Ledbetter flourished the glass his in hind in a very James Bond like manner.

“I’m listen’in.”

“Gem promised me a ship. And I got one, shortly before the incompetent Zanh Liis and her band of merry men destroyed it. I’ve been stuck on her ship of fools ever since, my talents wasted as an Observer. Can you imagine it? Me, Ashton Ledbetter, reduced to the Starfleet equivalent of a meat inspector.”

“My heart is breakin’.” Brody said dryly. “The point, please.” He simply had no time for these long winded pity stories.

“The point is, I’m not repairing your drive until I get my own ship. What you do with the Serendipity and the rest of your galaxy after that is your own concern and none of mine, but I will have my Captain’s chair.” Ashton slammed the glass down definitely, causing some of the scotch to slosh over the rides onto his hand and the desk. He then nonchalantly proceeded to wipe the booze off on his leg, hoping Brody would not notice.

“I’m not really in a position at the moment, Mr. Ledbetter, to go out and find you a ship.”

“Well, let me know when you are.” Ashton grinned, and spun around in his chair, facing his back to Brody. As soon as Brody could not see him, the grin turned into a grimace.

“I could just have you executed, but I don’t think that would help me, or convince you.”

“I’d rather die than go back to that meaningless life.” Ashton tried his best to make it sound convincing. As much as he did not enjoy being an observer, the idea that the light he shed upon the galaxy would ever be snuffed out was unbearable to him, but Brody didn’t need to know that.

There was a pause before Brody continued, where Ashton could almost feel the man’s eyes boring into him.

“I’m not sure I believe you,” Brody concluded, making the words sound like a very convincing and explicit threat.

“What you believe is your own concern,” Ashton dismissively replied.

“Perhaps, but what we both know is both our concern. We both know that I can’t get you a ship. So we both know there’s no point in you demandin’ one. Unless, that is, you don’t want yer demands ta be met.”

It took all of Ashton’s willpower to stop himself from gulping with this observation. “Yes, well, I believe that you’re forgetting one thing,” he suggested, trying to sound like he wasn’t just stalling for time.

“Is that a fact?” Brody asked with a hint of amusement.

“Yes,” Ashton answered firmly as inspiration struck, “you’re forgetting the first rule of negotiation. You always ask for more than you want and know you’re getting offered less than all they’re willing to give. That way you meet in the middle at what you want.”

“Alright, then let’s take the back and forth as read, shall we?” Brody said, sounding unconvinced. “What do you really want, Ashton?”

“My demands are quite simple,” Ashton answered, spinning around in his chair again. “First, I want your guarantee that I will get a ship as soon as you’re in position to acquire me one. Second, I want proof that you will be in such a position sooner rather than later.”

“Well then,” Brody started, moving around finally to sit down, “it seems we may be in a position to work together after all. If you get my drive ta work, then I’ll be in position ta give you a fleet.”

-=Outside of the office=-

It felt like forever since Ashton had gone into the meeting with Brody. That was saying something, because as impatient as he could come off Jamie was still a man who’d happily wait forever for almost anything. Of course, given he would also happily undergo serious dental work and face a major threat to his existence with a smile on his face still gleaming from that dentist, the qualifier happily didn’t really mean so much in his case.

He definitely was happy right now though and was in fact extremely excited. All the readouts before him had suddenly begun to make sense and he could tell exactly what Ashton had been setting up. His hands were working furiously now, inputting the final commands. It was extremely tricky work, like pulling a heavy weight up a very steep hill and knowing that if you stopped moving for a second it would fall until it slammed back into the ground below with you along with it.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Powell shouted as he quickly moved, finally noticing Jamie’s actions from where he’d been trying to listen in on Brody’s conversation.

“I think I’ve figured out how to get the drive working,” Jamie answered eagerly.

-=Inside the office=-

Ashton could barely manage to hide his fear and contempt for Brody’s plan for what he’d do with the drive. Though Ashton wasn’t foolish enough to think he’d been given the full story, he could tell there was a very large grain of truth in what Brody was suggesting as his proof that he could give Ashton what he’d asked for.

“You really think you can take over Temporal Investigations?” Ashton asked, half in shock.

“With this ship,” Brody answered, “I don’t think anyone can stop me.”

Seeing the look of near satisfaction on Brody’s face Ashton knew that he was right. Brody would know exactly what to do, where and more importantly when to go that TI would be unable to defend against him. At that point there really would be no stopping him from rewriting all of History to his own desires. The only way to stop him would be right now by making sure that the jump drive could never be repaired.

-=Outside the office=-

Jamie input the final command and Main Engineering was suddenly alight as energy surged straight from the warp core into every conduit, past every interface, all culminating at a pinpoint on the temporal core. An almost vicious whirring had begun and it was growing louder and louder; so loud that Brody and Ashton had suddenly emerged from the office to see what was happening.

Confronted with not just the noise but the rapid blinking in and out of screens and lights all around them, Ashton felt he had to shout over it all to get Jamie’s attention.

“What’s happening?”

“I think I’ve done it,” Jamie answered and Brody moved in beside him to check the readings on his, the one working screen. Eagerness could almost have been seen on Brody’s face as he felt it all so close.

The sounds were building.

Energy was being transferred into the drive.

Then suddenly…that energy was dropping out, the sounds whirred down to nothing and the screens returned to normal.

“Sorry,” Jamie happily announced, while everyone’s heart still seemed to be pounding, “I guess it was a false alarm.”

Brody’s face was quickly devoid of emotion though his actions certainly weren’t as he physically dragged Jamie away from the console.

“What did you do?” He demanded.

“I…I thought I was fixing it,” Jamie answered.

“You thought wrong, Jamie,” Ashton announced as he observed the readings on the screen Jamie had been working with. He then sighed and shook his head. “This is going to take me hours to undo.”

This was not what Brody wanted to hear.

“My offer is good for one more hour,” he insisted coldly to Ashton. “Either you fix the drive by then or I take my chances of finding someone else that can.”

Then without another word or allowing Ashton a single chance to argue, Brody stormed out and Ashton quickly moved in towards the clearly distressed Jamie and ushered him away from Powell’s irritated glare.

Only when they’d gotten several meters away from him did Ashton finally speak again and then only very quietly. Only then did the smiles return to each of their faces.

“I take it you picked up on my instructions?”

“I think so,” Jamie answered, happy although still not completely so with the pure rage he’d felt in Brody still fresh on his mind. “The modulator should have overloaded. No matter what we do now, the drive shouldn’t be able to engage. How’d things go with you?”

“I think Brody believed me.”

**********************************
Ashton Ledbetter
Temporal Investigations Observer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012

and

Crewman Jamie Halliday
Engineering Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012