By Any Other Name (Gunn, Peerless)

[Roger Davis]

0700 Hours April 16th, 2582

The ship had been running nearly nonstop for the past two days. It was hard to believe they'd been on Santo about 30 hours ago. It was an exciting night followed by one twist and turn after another. With luck this string of incidents would finally come to a satisfying conclusion.

Rachel Keller, one of Onas's choice few for this assignment, and more or less his personal representative on the mission, apparently wasn't who she said she was. Not only was she living under an assumed identity and hiding a past as law enforcement, she actually was infiltrating the Syndicate on some personal vendetta and planning to eventually kill Onas Knox, the very man who had come to trust her so closely.

Sutton had given her up, moments before she ended his life. Then Vitale had dutifully reported about the standoff they'd had in the office. Then there was a meeting with the woman herself, a temporary confinement to quarters, some research, and finally some deep thinking on the captain's part. That all led him here, to Ke... Gunn's door.

The kid stepped aside when he saw who it was. Luther had been relieved in the night by Elijah. Neither of them knew why they were guarding the room of one of their crew mates, but they did know not to ask those sorts of questions, at least not aloud to their commander. "Dismissed, Bainbridge." he ordered in a quiet tone as he walked past and then cycled the door.

Keller, or Gunn, was inside of course. She wasn't all too pleased about any of this but she also wasn't about to stage an escape attempt or set an ambush for the man she'd willingly confessed to just last night.

"Miss Gunn." he said simply. "Where do we go from here?"

[Deleted]

Elijah had been given many orders though out his years on the Peerless, the Orlando before that and in the military prior to that. He couldn't count how many of those orders he didn't really know all the details behind them either. This of course was no different than any of those countless times. That didn't mean he didn't wonder why the order was given, but here he was standing outside Keller's door standing post over it until further notice. Elijah had been standing there with his arms crossed in front of the door since 0200 when he took over for Luther. Aside from a fifteen minute conversation with Luther that covered a gamut of topics from what happened on Santo, to their new passanger, the cute little doctor, Esmay. They even covered their hopes for breakfast in the morning, and their guesses on what Jericho will make. 

Now five hours later and all Elijah has had for company has been the flickering light in the hall that he would promptly tell Kalli about later so she could fix it and the hum of the engine. Elijah had already been speculating on what had landed Keller on temporary "house arrest". David had a certain way he wanted things done and expected the best from people but he doubted that failing to achieve everything the way he wanted was enough to land someone in this spot. Elijah's attention was drawn by the sound of boots along the metal floors coming his direction. He had expected it to be Vitale or some other crew coming but not for several more hours to relive him of his post at the door, but it turned out to be the Captain himself making a B-line to the door. 

Elijah stepped aside making room for the captain who quickly dismissed him and cycled the door walking in. "Yes sir." He replied as he snapped in to step heading away from the door. It had been many years ago from when he left the military but some habits die hard. Elijah wasn't going to waste time standing around. First off the captain had dismissed him but by this time Jericho was likely to be working on Elijah's favorite time of day, meal time. 

[Abigail Gunn]

Gunn had been contemplating her life. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She was more kicking herself for not putting a bullet between the bastard's eyes before he revealed that information to Vitale. Maybe she just had a history of bitterness, but she was thinking of her regrets. None of those regrets including sparing Vitale by this point, though. She'd genuinely liked him. Funny how that worked. She genuinely liked most of Onas's crew that she'd pretended to like. Call it stockholm's or something.

She heard the door and saw the captain enter, who looked decidedly not on the other side of an airlock peering in at her.

It was a good look for him.

”Miss Gunn. Where do we go from here?”

”Well, I was kind of expecting, y'know, death.” Gunn replied. She still didn't know if he was going to rat her out to Onas and let the Seph boys string her up. The captain didn't have Vitale at his side, though. Or anyone, as her apparent guard was walking away to greener pastures.

”If that's not in the cards... Breakfast sounds good.”

She was half-joking. Breakfast did sound good though. Being able to continue functioning as a complex organism sounded even better. Both futures were in the good captain's hands now, as well as other less savory ones. She couldn't even properly be angry at him if he had decided to out her. It would be the biggest scandal of Onas's life---apart from getting thrown out of a department store for unbecoming conduct with Siobhan in the women's fitting room.

[Roger Davis]

Gunn replied in her usual flippant attitude. Even when her life was on the line she joked. It seemed an understandable enough response to the situation, although probably not the smartest course. After so many years playing a role, Roger began to doubt whether the woman in front of him even knew how to be Abigail anymore.

"You and I need to have words first." the captain replied, dismissing the joke and returning to the gravely serious topic. He stepped back to the now closed door and leaned back against it as he crossed his arms. "You know, I have a policy about betrayal which involves the airlock." He paused for a moment before then finally concluding, "But I have decided you're not a traitor."

Before Gunn could get a word in he continued, "Your entire life is one great deception. You've earned the trust of a man you mean to kill and lied to everyone you've met along the way, myself included." Davis took a step forward off the wall. "But when you had an opportunity to strike, you didn't. When you could have silenced others you refrained." He pressed on, "I think of my own father and what lengths I would go to were our situations reversed. And I have decided I hold nothing against you."

After letting the conclusion sink in for a moment, Davis continued. "On conditions of course. It should go without saying that so long as you are under my command you cannot harm our employer. Once this contract is completed you are free to leave the ship and go on your way. Though for your sake and that of your departed father, I hope you continue your investigation and ensure the right man pays for this crime." Finally he added, "And I'll be sure to direct some of our efforts to uncovering the truth of the matter as time permits."

[Abigail Gunn]

Had Davis spoken his mind about doubting her ability to be herself, she'd have had to agree wholeheartedly. Several years had gone by, and she lived the lie. She was one of Onas's top enforcers, someone who'd left bloodstains where she passed because it was necessary. Her life had become a circus, ran by a ringmaster she could no longer identify. In short, the threat on her life was constant, enough so that she could joke about her death. She often did. When you were in the profession she was infiltrating, your life was pretty much on a time table until you retired.. sometimes even after..

”I never wanted an innocent to pay for that crime.” She said, finally, after listening to Davis's spiel. It was more heartfelt than she'd have given the captain credit for being, but still with that matter-of-fact seriousness that made him seem more... authoritative.

It struck her when he said her entire life was one great deception. She'd always drawn a line in her mind between who she used to be and who she was. She couldn't argue with him there: she had become a totally different animal, one that was angry and vindictive... one that he no qualms with giving a fake name and committing crimes to match a fake record. Still, the captain was understanding, which was more than she had expected.

”You have my word that I won't make a move on Onas under your command. And, I have no harmful intentions toward you or the crew. I never did.” This she said in reference to his not-so-subtle implication that she could have murdered Vitale but chose not to. She wasn't sure how to face Vi now, what the man would think of her... but, he was alive, if not particularly well.

”I would appreciate the help,” she added with some reluctance. Who was the captain telling? Who had he told? At this point, a wave could be sent to Onas that would beat her getting to Seph. What Davis was offering was resources, someone else to help her piece together what happened and why... it was... sweet, in the way that only offering to investigate someone for a fatal vendetta could be.

”Who all knows.. or will know?” She asked at last. The captain and Vitale knew, but would he tell the rest of their crew and hope the Syndicate people didn't rat her out due to loyalty?

[Roger Davis]

She gave the right answers this time, straightforward and serious. It was all confirmation of what the captain had concluded and expected in return. Gratitude and honesty were not the sort of things that came to mind when you thought of Rachel Keller. Hopefully Abigail Gunn was different.

"I don't suspect it's something that can be kept secret." Roger answered. "Not that I'm inclined to keep secrets from my crew let alone order others to do the same." If it were just the two of them in the know that would be one thing, but as the knowledge base increased things became more difficult. "Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead."

"The two of us and Cordoba of course know. Del' Rio, Atkin, Kuznits, and Montgomery as well. Vanderbosch and Bainbridge were guarding your door last night and might be curious as to why." As he spoke, it soon became more widespread than even he had originally imagined. "That means Bainbridge will tell Bernett while Vanderbosch will tell Del' Marco and the other Montgomery. Doesn't leave very many people left in the dark and most of the rest are likely to have suspicions as well."

"Those who know for sure have been informed of my decision and instructed to keep this knowledge aboard ship." he explained. "The others can be enlightened through the grape vine or from you personally if your prefer." A little crew assembly didn't seem ideal, but it might be the best way to get the message distributed quickly and to allow the others to judge Gunn's sincerity for themselves. "We can't have half the crew calling you by a different name without any explanation."

[Abigail Gunn]

Guarding the door was one thing, as it might be explained away by the fact that Keller didn't have the best track record and pissed off the captain. That was believable enough. The list of people in the know, however, was somewhat disheartening. Then again, she had expected the worst and pondered her own mortality since she'd been confined to quarters, so the fact that the captain backed her in his own way was comforting. At this point, she could only hope the crew would do the same.

”I would prefer to tell them myself. It'd be better that way, I think.”

There was no jest in her tone this time. She knew how serious it was. She'd known how serious it was when she went into it. She had trusted Becker's ability to create a person, and the Syndicate not to find her out. She'd never imagined answering for it to the good captain, though. In her mind, it was always going to be someone in the Syndicate doing a more thorough job, and a call to Onas's office to be killed by Siobhan. That is, if she was ever made to answer for it. She had several years and a loyal record, so she was actually rather well liked by Onas's crew, even Onas himself—as far as he liked his employees.

Then again, she'd told him that she wasn't his employee, and, in fact, was just working with him. It just seemed like the thing to say.

”I guess that means you won't personally tell Onas.” She stated, although at this point, it really didn't matter: it was the Syndicate crew that had the greater likelihood of doing that, as far as she could figure.

[Roger Davis]

Davis nodded in response to her decision. As to her second statement, well that was a little harder. No, he wasn't going to run to Onas and inform, but he wasn't sure how far he would go to protect her either. In the unlikely event Knox actually came out and directly asked him about "Keller" what would he say? If the contract was over, Gunn had left the ship, and they'd all parted ways would he still keep he secret possibly to the detriment of a man who had become a regular client?

It was hard to say, but in the end Gunn's motivation helped with that tentative decision. If Knox was in danger it was because he had it coming and had actually murdered her father. If he was innocent then there was nothing to worry about. Davis was a loyal man but it didn't make much sense to try and save a murderer from his just deserts. "No." he finally answered.

After a moment he then turned toward the door. "As you said... breakfast is where we go from here." Just outside Jericho no doubt had created a smorgasbord of breakfast foods. The galley seemed like a logical place for Gunn to begin her reintegration.

((OOC: FYI since you keep mentioning it, in this re-imagination of the story with our various changes to the story, the crew is not nearly as Syndicate comprised as it was before. Vitale was briefly trained by the Syndicate after fighting them and then hiding from them for years. He has been on the crew much for years after those few months of interaction. Kyle Montgomery was Syndicate years ago but he left it and has been Peerless for five years. Other than that, I don't think anyone has Syndicate ties aside from Gunn and her BFF Lewis.))