The Hand of Wrath, chapter 14 [PG-13, seaQuest, Bridger/Westphalen]
We're in the home stretch :) Only the epilogue to go and it will be started soon!
index post
A/N: Thank you to Katesfire for answering my legal questions!
Chapter 14 ~ Finding Contrition
Entering the brig, Nathan found a glowering security chief leaning against the wall by the doorway. His irritated glare was directed to the interior of the occupied cell across the room, where their suspect sat on the bench against the left hand wall, cross-legged, hands resting on his knees. His demeanor was the complete opposite of Crocker's: eyes closed, face a visage of complete calm.
"Has he told you anything?" Nathan inquired, studying the young Aleut closely. He could have sworn he had seen a slight flinch from the other man at the sound of his voice.
"All we got out of him is his name: Kamik. He's refused to say anything else. His prints match a juvenile record from up in Bethel." Crocker passed over the tablet he had been holding. "The charges are a mix but the big ones are a couple vandalism complaints, a B&E and a domestic assault against his stepfather. Funny thing is-that last one was almost ten years ago. It'd make you think he'd cleaned up his act...until this. Well, I'll leave him to you, Cap. Good luck." Shaking his head, Crocker left the room.
Nathan skimmed the information on the tablet's screen, noting that the majority of the complaints logged on the report had been made by the stepfather. Stepping into the cell, he closed the door behind him and leaned against its frame to wait. At the click of the door closing, Kamik's eyes opened. Spotting Nathan, he inclined his head in greeting. "Captain. Shall I assume that Doctor Westphalen's recovery is proceeding apace?"
"I'm not down here to discuss Doctor Westphalen," Nathan retorted, annoyed by the younger man's blasé tone. "I also have no intention of letting you dodge the issue. You told Chief Crocker that you would talk only to me, so I suggest you start talking."
Kamik's face remained expressionless but something--a hint of resentment?--flickered in the depths of his eyes. "You are aware that her survival was due in part to my success in distracting both Len and Walt on occasion from causing her further harm?"
"And that's supposed to make up for you helping Len to abduct her, to torture her by nearly drowning her??" The mental image of Kristin lying unconscious in a medbay bed with an oxygen mask covering her face rose to the forefront of Nathan's mind; he shook his head slightly to chase it away. The motion helped to calm his rising temper.
"I am sure you will not believe me when I tell you that Len deceived me as to her true motives."
"What I believe isn't important. I will say that your actions are a contradiction," Nathan continued. "By all accounts--" He tapped the tablet screen. "You were nothing but trouble for years and appeared to be on a clear path to self-destruction. Then, all of a sudden, it seems like you grew up and decided to do something constructive with your life. Am I on the right track so far?"
"More or less." Kamik's voice had developed a slight edge.
"Ten years goes by before you decide to become involved with Len's plot. Now, regardless of the fact that you allege that she deceived you, it seems rather odd that you would suddenly turn to criminal behavior again--"
"I had my reasons!" Nathan blinked in surprise at the vehement response, realizing Kamik was on his feet, hands clenched into fists. But his flare of temper seemed to pass as quickly as it had come; he sighed heavily and slowly slumped back onto the bench. Another long moment passed before he lifted his head to meet Nathan's gaze again. "I am not proud of what I did, but it was what I felt was my only option at the time. And by the time I realized Len's exact intentions--as well as the fact that she was completely unstable--it was too late."
"Too late for what?"
Kamik's eyes narrowed. "Are you going to believe what I have to say?"
"You claimed to have helped Kristin while Len was holding her hostage." Nathan kept his tone even, not wanting Kamik to change his mind about talking. "You did help her--and us--in a way by leading us to the island. If you are truly intending to be honest, now would be the time to prove it by telling me your side of the story."
Kamik was silent for several moments before he finally sighed again. "Kirima."
"Kirima?"
Kamik nodded to the tablet in Nathan's hands. "Look up Adrien Kashatok."
His curiosity piqued, Nathan inputted the name and ran a database search. Immediately, the tablet brought up the details of an active warrant on the man Kamik had named. Prime suspect in the homicide of Kirima Intiak. Current whereabouts unknown. He glanced over the rest of the details, noting that there were over a dozen domestic violence complaints against Kashatok. All had been reported by Kirima Intiak herself and later withdrawn.
"She was my little sister." Kamik's quiet words broke the silence. "The only worthwhile result of my mother's second marriage, since my stepfather was not good for much of anything else. My mother let him rule the household--and he threw me out when I turned sixteen. Kirima kept in contact with me secretly until she was of age and could therefore tell her father that he could not forbid her to claim me as family. Unfortunately, it was not long after that that she met Kashatok."
"And that's where the trouble started, I take it."
"Indeed. I could tell from the moment I laid eyes on him that he was dangerous. My stepfather felt the same." Kamik paused, smirking thoughtfully. "It was the sole time he and I ever agreed on anything. Perhaps if he had had the common sense to speak to Kirima like the adult she was, he might have accomplished his goal. But, as was typical of him, he postured and threatened and behaved in exactly the right way to convince her that keelut was the man for her."
Nathan could see where this tale was going to go; even as he wanted to hear more, he was left wondering how much of it was even true.
"The relationship went well for eighteen months or so, likely because he was rarely home--he worked on the fishing fleets. The trouble began when the fleet's owner went bankrupt and put him out of work. I was working out on Unimak at the time, but I sent what I could to help them out. It was not enough, and he soon began taking out his frustrations out on Kirima. Despite this abuse, she would not listen to those of us telling her to leave him until the night I was present and interceded--and he came at me with a knife." The smirk returned for a brief moment. "He was not anticipating my own skill with a blade."
"I'm surprised you didn't kill him," Nathan remarked. "You must possess a remarkable ability to restrain yourself."
"Given that he lost a finger and came close to losing his left eye, I considered it warning enough," Kamik shrugged. "And I was not about to traumatize Kirima any more than necessary. Since I could not take her with me to Unimak, she went to stay with her closest friend. I knew she would be safe there because Chumia has five brothers, all of whom are twice my size. I thought that her ordeal was over. But it hadn't been two months before he managed to gain access to her and sway her with apologies and promises to reform. Both Chumia and I tried to talk her out of it, the end result being she told us both to go to hell."
Nathan glanced down at the tablet screen again and the image of Adrien Kashatok, noting the prominent scar that went from under his left eye to his jawline. It was certainly looking like there was a ring of truth to what Kamik was telling him.
"She stopped speaking to Chumia entirely. We did not speak for nearly six months until she called me out of the blue one night. Kashatok had gone right back to abusing her and was threatening to kill her as well. Her attempts to report him to the local police always ended up with her on the losing end because they insisted they had to have 'his side of the story', even when she was sporting a healing black eye." Kamik shook his head in disgust. "I told her I would help her leave Alaska on the condition that she would not change her mind this time: if she went back to him again, I would no longer help her."
"So I'm guessing the involvement with Len happened because she offered you the money Kirima needed?" Nathan guessed.
"Precisely. The offer was too good to refuse--and I was stupid enough to take her up on it. All I could think about was getting my nukka out of the reach of that bastard. It was only after we were established on Tanaga that Len told me her intentions--and even then, she lied." Kamik snorted in self-contempt. "She informed me Doctor Westphalen would be released when the UEO agreed to charge you with the murder of her Marilyn. Yet I still remained because, in my mind, Kirima's safety was paramount. At that time, all was going according to what we planned. Kirima actually decided not to just leave Alaska, but the confederation. The Netherlands was her intended destination, and she also planned to change her identity once within North Sea borders. Both of us knew it was unlikely that Kashatok would search for her, but it was another intended layer of protection that put her mind at ease."
"Was Kirima aware of what you were doing in order to help secure her escape?"
A sad smile crossed the young Aleut's face. "No. In the beginning, I simply told her I had secured better work. When I found out the truth--or what I thought the truth was--I kept it from her because I knew she would object. Our contact was limited as it was, because she did not want Kashatok to suspect her intentions." The smile abruptly faded and his eyes grew darker with sorrow. "But somehow, he must have learned of her plans. How or in what way, I do not know. What I did know was that something was terribly wrong when she did not answer her cell phone. I waited twelve hours for her to call; she never did. Once that much time had passed, I no longer doubted that something had happened. I tried to hold on to the hope that she had had to flee ahead of schedule and was already en route to Amsterdam-but I knew I was fooling myself and that she was dead."
"And that is what made you decide to send us your message."
"Not originally. But Len's grief had driven her so deep into her insanity that she could no longer see reason--about anything. My attempts to warn her about Kusuuginax were ignored and, therefore, I had to act quickly. I knew there was no way I could get the doctor and myself past Hack's security system. That left leading you to the island." Kamik fell silent, his gaze falling to the floor. "It was the only way I felt I could atone for failing my sister." After another long minute of silence, he met Nathan's stare again. "So....will the end result of this conversation prove beneficial to me or no?"
Nathan shook his head. "That decision is not mine to make. And I wouldn't be surprised if the prosecution petitions to use the contents of your juvenile record against you. Explaining your side of the story might be seen as continued cooperation, given that Lieutenant O'Neill can confirm that you were responsible for leading us to the island. But I cannot guarantee that they will do so."
"I understand. And I hope you do as well now."
Nathan paused by the door. "I'm sorry?"
"That I did what I had to do to protect Kirima. Would you not have done the same in my place to protect Doctor Westphalen?"
"No. I would have found other means that didn't involve harming innocent people." But even as he left the brig, pausing only long enough to leave the tablet with the security officer on duty, Nathan knew that his immediate declaration was not as strong as it had sounded. If he had been in the younger man's shoes--if Kristin had been the one in that kind of danger, he knew in his gut that the possibility of being compelled to go against his conscience would have been all too tempting.
(*)
After Bridger departed, Kamik settled himself into position back on the bench, folding his legs under him. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Chief Crocker re-enter the main brig area but ignored the glare the older man shot in his direction. Unburdening himself to Bridger had sent his mind and spirit into turmoil and he closed his eyes, forcing himself to breathe slowly and deeply to overcome the tension. The sudden feel of cool slickness against his hand sent a rush of calm down to his core and he sighed softly, rubbing his thumb over the polished obsidian pendant that depicted a raven with wings spread in full flight.
The necklace was now the only thing he had left of Kirima, made by her own hand as a gift for his eighteenth birthday. Quick thinking and a ready lie had enabled him to keep the necklace from being confiscated by Crocker. Thankfully, his troubled past meant he was aware that the UEO abided by the same rules local authorities did when it came to permitting prisoners to keep religious items, though he found himself having to bite his tongue when the security chief insisted on inspecting it for "sharp edges". For a brief moment, he had worried that Crocker would defy the regulation and confiscate it after all, but it was returned after what seemed to Kamik like an overly thorough examination of the pendant and a few mumbled comments.
Relaxing against the wall behind him, he traced a finger along the length of the necklace, feeling the changes in texture while the memories washed over him. The crisp roughness of the woven beach grass contrasted with the minute irregularities and faint warmth of the walrus ivory beads; Kirima's selection of materials were meant to represent the union of land and sea that had sustained their ancestors in centuries past. As for the pendant, she had teased him that her choice of the Raven talisman represented him personally because he was as much trouble as the legendary trickster. Any mocking retort he had attempted was met with laughter. The reference soon became an affectionate jest between the two of them, though her involvement with Kashatok eventually bled all the joy out of her spirit. Ironically, the very last time he ever saw her smile was also the final time she referred to their private banter, the day he had assured her that the payout Len had promised him would be the solution to all of her worries.
"You really are like Qanglaagix, my brother. Pure trouble, but a great help in my time of need."
A bitter smirk twisted his lips at the ghost of his sister's voice echoing in his mind. Unlike Raven, he had failed and that failure would haunt him for the rest of his life. Despite Bridger's suggestion to the contrary, he had absolutely no expectations that their conversation would convince those in charge of prosecuting him to consider granting him any degree of leniency; his unscrupulous actions meant that any chance of continuing to rebuild his own life would be forever out of reach. But part of him wondered if, somehow, what he had revealed might not help lead to justice for Kirima.
In the end, that was all he could hope for.
Aleut translations:
Qanglaagix - Aleut name for Raven
nukka - little sister
keelut - an evil earth spirit
index post
A/N: Thank you to Katesfire for answering my legal questions!
Chapter 14 ~ Finding Contrition
Entering the brig, Nathan found a glowering security chief leaning against the wall by the doorway. His irritated glare was directed to the interior of the occupied cell across the room, where their suspect sat on the bench against the left hand wall, cross-legged, hands resting on his knees. His demeanor was the complete opposite of Crocker's: eyes closed, face a visage of complete calm.
"Has he told you anything?" Nathan inquired, studying the young Aleut closely. He could have sworn he had seen a slight flinch from the other man at the sound of his voice.
"All we got out of him is his name: Kamik. He's refused to say anything else. His prints match a juvenile record from up in Bethel." Crocker passed over the tablet he had been holding. "The charges are a mix but the big ones are a couple vandalism complaints, a B&E and a domestic assault against his stepfather. Funny thing is-that last one was almost ten years ago. It'd make you think he'd cleaned up his act...until this. Well, I'll leave him to you, Cap. Good luck." Shaking his head, Crocker left the room.
Nathan skimmed the information on the tablet's screen, noting that the majority of the complaints logged on the report had been made by the stepfather. Stepping into the cell, he closed the door behind him and leaned against its frame to wait. At the click of the door closing, Kamik's eyes opened. Spotting Nathan, he inclined his head in greeting. "Captain. Shall I assume that Doctor Westphalen's recovery is proceeding apace?"
"I'm not down here to discuss Doctor Westphalen," Nathan retorted, annoyed by the younger man's blasé tone. "I also have no intention of letting you dodge the issue. You told Chief Crocker that you would talk only to me, so I suggest you start talking."
Kamik's face remained expressionless but something--a hint of resentment?--flickered in the depths of his eyes. "You are aware that her survival was due in part to my success in distracting both Len and Walt on occasion from causing her further harm?"
"And that's supposed to make up for you helping Len to abduct her, to torture her by nearly drowning her??" The mental image of Kristin lying unconscious in a medbay bed with an oxygen mask covering her face rose to the forefront of Nathan's mind; he shook his head slightly to chase it away. The motion helped to calm his rising temper.
"I am sure you will not believe me when I tell you that Len deceived me as to her true motives."
"What I believe isn't important. I will say that your actions are a contradiction," Nathan continued. "By all accounts--" He tapped the tablet screen. "You were nothing but trouble for years and appeared to be on a clear path to self-destruction. Then, all of a sudden, it seems like you grew up and decided to do something constructive with your life. Am I on the right track so far?"
"More or less." Kamik's voice had developed a slight edge.
"Ten years goes by before you decide to become involved with Len's plot. Now, regardless of the fact that you allege that she deceived you, it seems rather odd that you would suddenly turn to criminal behavior again--"
"I had my reasons!" Nathan blinked in surprise at the vehement response, realizing Kamik was on his feet, hands clenched into fists. But his flare of temper seemed to pass as quickly as it had come; he sighed heavily and slowly slumped back onto the bench. Another long moment passed before he lifted his head to meet Nathan's gaze again. "I am not proud of what I did, but it was what I felt was my only option at the time. And by the time I realized Len's exact intentions--as well as the fact that she was completely unstable--it was too late."
"Too late for what?"
Kamik's eyes narrowed. "Are you going to believe what I have to say?"
"You claimed to have helped Kristin while Len was holding her hostage." Nathan kept his tone even, not wanting Kamik to change his mind about talking. "You did help her--and us--in a way by leading us to the island. If you are truly intending to be honest, now would be the time to prove it by telling me your side of the story."
Kamik was silent for several moments before he finally sighed again. "Kirima."
"Kirima?"
Kamik nodded to the tablet in Nathan's hands. "Look up Adrien Kashatok."
His curiosity piqued, Nathan inputted the name and ran a database search. Immediately, the tablet brought up the details of an active warrant on the man Kamik had named. Prime suspect in the homicide of Kirima Intiak. Current whereabouts unknown. He glanced over the rest of the details, noting that there were over a dozen domestic violence complaints against Kashatok. All had been reported by Kirima Intiak herself and later withdrawn.
"She was my little sister." Kamik's quiet words broke the silence. "The only worthwhile result of my mother's second marriage, since my stepfather was not good for much of anything else. My mother let him rule the household--and he threw me out when I turned sixteen. Kirima kept in contact with me secretly until she was of age and could therefore tell her father that he could not forbid her to claim me as family. Unfortunately, it was not long after that that she met Kashatok."
"And that's where the trouble started, I take it."
"Indeed. I could tell from the moment I laid eyes on him that he was dangerous. My stepfather felt the same." Kamik paused, smirking thoughtfully. "It was the sole time he and I ever agreed on anything. Perhaps if he had had the common sense to speak to Kirima like the adult she was, he might have accomplished his goal. But, as was typical of him, he postured and threatened and behaved in exactly the right way to convince her that keelut was the man for her."
Nathan could see where this tale was going to go; even as he wanted to hear more, he was left wondering how much of it was even true.
"The relationship went well for eighteen months or so, likely because he was rarely home--he worked on the fishing fleets. The trouble began when the fleet's owner went bankrupt and put him out of work. I was working out on Unimak at the time, but I sent what I could to help them out. It was not enough, and he soon began taking out his frustrations out on Kirima. Despite this abuse, she would not listen to those of us telling her to leave him until the night I was present and interceded--and he came at me with a knife." The smirk returned for a brief moment. "He was not anticipating my own skill with a blade."
"I'm surprised you didn't kill him," Nathan remarked. "You must possess a remarkable ability to restrain yourself."
"Given that he lost a finger and came close to losing his left eye, I considered it warning enough," Kamik shrugged. "And I was not about to traumatize Kirima any more than necessary. Since I could not take her with me to Unimak, she went to stay with her closest friend. I knew she would be safe there because Chumia has five brothers, all of whom are twice my size. I thought that her ordeal was over. But it hadn't been two months before he managed to gain access to her and sway her with apologies and promises to reform. Both Chumia and I tried to talk her out of it, the end result being she told us both to go to hell."
Nathan glanced down at the tablet screen again and the image of Adrien Kashatok, noting the prominent scar that went from under his left eye to his jawline. It was certainly looking like there was a ring of truth to what Kamik was telling him.
"She stopped speaking to Chumia entirely. We did not speak for nearly six months until she called me out of the blue one night. Kashatok had gone right back to abusing her and was threatening to kill her as well. Her attempts to report him to the local police always ended up with her on the losing end because they insisted they had to have 'his side of the story', even when she was sporting a healing black eye." Kamik shook his head in disgust. "I told her I would help her leave Alaska on the condition that she would not change her mind this time: if she went back to him again, I would no longer help her."
"So I'm guessing the involvement with Len happened because she offered you the money Kirima needed?" Nathan guessed.
"Precisely. The offer was too good to refuse--and I was stupid enough to take her up on it. All I could think about was getting my nukka out of the reach of that bastard. It was only after we were established on Tanaga that Len told me her intentions--and even then, she lied." Kamik snorted in self-contempt. "She informed me Doctor Westphalen would be released when the UEO agreed to charge you with the murder of her Marilyn. Yet I still remained because, in my mind, Kirima's safety was paramount. At that time, all was going according to what we planned. Kirima actually decided not to just leave Alaska, but the confederation. The Netherlands was her intended destination, and she also planned to change her identity once within North Sea borders. Both of us knew it was unlikely that Kashatok would search for her, but it was another intended layer of protection that put her mind at ease."
"Was Kirima aware of what you were doing in order to help secure her escape?"
A sad smile crossed the young Aleut's face. "No. In the beginning, I simply told her I had secured better work. When I found out the truth--or what I thought the truth was--I kept it from her because I knew she would object. Our contact was limited as it was, because she did not want Kashatok to suspect her intentions." The smile abruptly faded and his eyes grew darker with sorrow. "But somehow, he must have learned of her plans. How or in what way, I do not know. What I did know was that something was terribly wrong when she did not answer her cell phone. I waited twelve hours for her to call; she never did. Once that much time had passed, I no longer doubted that something had happened. I tried to hold on to the hope that she had had to flee ahead of schedule and was already en route to Amsterdam-but I knew I was fooling myself and that she was dead."
"And that is what made you decide to send us your message."
"Not originally. But Len's grief had driven her so deep into her insanity that she could no longer see reason--about anything. My attempts to warn her about Kusuuginax were ignored and, therefore, I had to act quickly. I knew there was no way I could get the doctor and myself past Hack's security system. That left leading you to the island." Kamik fell silent, his gaze falling to the floor. "It was the only way I felt I could atone for failing my sister." After another long minute of silence, he met Nathan's stare again. "So....will the end result of this conversation prove beneficial to me or no?"
Nathan shook his head. "That decision is not mine to make. And I wouldn't be surprised if the prosecution petitions to use the contents of your juvenile record against you. Explaining your side of the story might be seen as continued cooperation, given that Lieutenant O'Neill can confirm that you were responsible for leading us to the island. But I cannot guarantee that they will do so."
"I understand. And I hope you do as well now."
Nathan paused by the door. "I'm sorry?"
"That I did what I had to do to protect Kirima. Would you not have done the same in my place to protect Doctor Westphalen?"
"No. I would have found other means that didn't involve harming innocent people." But even as he left the brig, pausing only long enough to leave the tablet with the security officer on duty, Nathan knew that his immediate declaration was not as strong as it had sounded. If he had been in the younger man's shoes--if Kristin had been the one in that kind of danger, he knew in his gut that the possibility of being compelled to go against his conscience would have been all too tempting.
(*)
After Bridger departed, Kamik settled himself into position back on the bench, folding his legs under him. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Chief Crocker re-enter the main brig area but ignored the glare the older man shot in his direction. Unburdening himself to Bridger had sent his mind and spirit into turmoil and he closed his eyes, forcing himself to breathe slowly and deeply to overcome the tension. The sudden feel of cool slickness against his hand sent a rush of calm down to his core and he sighed softly, rubbing his thumb over the polished obsidian pendant that depicted a raven with wings spread in full flight.
The necklace was now the only thing he had left of Kirima, made by her own hand as a gift for his eighteenth birthday. Quick thinking and a ready lie had enabled him to keep the necklace from being confiscated by Crocker. Thankfully, his troubled past meant he was aware that the UEO abided by the same rules local authorities did when it came to permitting prisoners to keep religious items, though he found himself having to bite his tongue when the security chief insisted on inspecting it for "sharp edges". For a brief moment, he had worried that Crocker would defy the regulation and confiscate it after all, but it was returned after what seemed to Kamik like an overly thorough examination of the pendant and a few mumbled comments.
Relaxing against the wall behind him, he traced a finger along the length of the necklace, feeling the changes in texture while the memories washed over him. The crisp roughness of the woven beach grass contrasted with the minute irregularities and faint warmth of the walrus ivory beads; Kirima's selection of materials were meant to represent the union of land and sea that had sustained their ancestors in centuries past. As for the pendant, she had teased him that her choice of the Raven talisman represented him personally because he was as much trouble as the legendary trickster. Any mocking retort he had attempted was met with laughter. The reference soon became an affectionate jest between the two of them, though her involvement with Kashatok eventually bled all the joy out of her spirit. Ironically, the very last time he ever saw her smile was also the final time she referred to their private banter, the day he had assured her that the payout Len had promised him would be the solution to all of her worries.
"You really are like Qanglaagix, my brother. Pure trouble, but a great help in my time of need."
A bitter smirk twisted his lips at the ghost of his sister's voice echoing in his mind. Unlike Raven, he had failed and that failure would haunt him for the rest of his life. Despite Bridger's suggestion to the contrary, he had absolutely no expectations that their conversation would convince those in charge of prosecuting him to consider granting him any degree of leniency; his unscrupulous actions meant that any chance of continuing to rebuild his own life would be forever out of reach. But part of him wondered if, somehow, what he had revealed might not help lead to justice for Kirima.
In the end, that was all he could hope for.
Aleut translations:
Qanglaagix - Aleut name for Raven
nukka - little sister
keelut - an evil earth spirit