[2] Amor Vincit Omnia ➳ Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013) ✔️

|03| I Told The Stars About You

Chapter 3 x

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Victoria looked across the table as she sat next to one of the older men, making her groan inwardly. The Captain of the USS Constitution was a...rather severe man, almost worse than a Vulcan when it came to the rules if that were even possible. She was just oh-so thrilled to have been assigned as his First Officer...it was going to be hell, she could tell. She glanced over, catching sight of Kirk beside her father, the boy offering her a small nod and a sad smile for her distance from him. This meeting, sitting there beside their respective Captains...it made it real, it just made it all the more solid to know that they were going to be separated after this meeting, that they already were separated and this was like a formality to prove it or something.

"Admiral Marcus, Sir," they both looked over, hearing Frank Abbott greet the stern looking man as he approached the table, all of them rising in respect.

"Thank you for convening on such short notice," Marcus nodded at them, gesturing at the table, "Be seated," he sat with them, letting out a breath and turning on the monitors set up before them all, displaying the information about why they were there, "By now some of you heard what happened in London," they frowned at that, they were well aware that there had been some sort of explosion in London, dozens of people had died when the archive went down but no one knew what had caused it or why it had happened, "The target was a Starfleet Data Archive. Now it's a damn hole in the ground. 42 men and women are dead. One hour ago, I received a message from a Starfleet officer," the young black man popped up on their monitors along with his information, "Who confessed to carrying out this attack, that he was being forced to do it by this man," another image replaced his, of a what man with black hair and blue eyes, he had high cheekbones and pale skin, his face very angular and sharp, "Commander John Harrison. He's one of our own," Victoria let out a low whistle at that, cutting it off quickly when her father sent her a look and shifting without looking up at the others sitting there, probably frowning at her by now, "And he is the man responsibility for this act of savagery," Marcus said that last part more firmly and Victoria could tell two things, the first was that he was sending her a look for her whistle as well, and the second was that Kirk was likely smirking at her for it by now, "For reasons unknown, John Harrison has just declared a one man war against Starfleet. Under no circumstances are we to allow this man to escape Federation space. You here tonight represent the senior command of all the vessels in the region. And in the name of those we lost...you will run this bastard down. This is a manhunt, pure and simple so let's get to work."

Victoria shifted again at that, it didn't...seem right. She understood that it was a terrible crime, truly savage as Marcus had said but...the way he was talking, it didn't sit right with her. It sounded like it really was going to be a HUNT and not just them trying to apprehend the man. Starfleet regulations were very clear about dealing with someone like Harrison and it just felt like Marcus was taking this all a little too far.

"Earth's perimeter sensors has not detected any warp signatures leaving the system," Marcus continued, "So we know he can't be far. You will park ships at blockade formation and deploy search vehicles and landing parties to run down every lead. This man has shown a willingness to kill innocent people so rules of engagement are simple, if you come across this man you are authorized to use deadly force on the subject."

"Deadly force, sir?" Victoria had to ask, hearing Kirk whispering about something to her father, something about Harrison's bag. There were images on the monitors now of the bombsite, of Harrison leaving with a bag in his hand.

"Yes, Officer Pike," Marcus looked at her.

"But Starfleet Regulations state that deadly force is ONLY to be used after being attacked by the subject, not before," the way he'd said it made it seem like they were meant to attack Harrison first and foremost and use the deadly force instead of just knocking him out. The way he said it made it seem like they were meant to use that force before he even had a chance to react. To say that 'if they came across him' was not the same to say that if they were 'engaging' the subject.