Fic: "Crossfire" (17/19)

[mijan]

Title: "Crossfire, Part 17"
Author: Mijan
Series: ST: XI
Character/Pairing(s): Kirk&McCoy, Pike, Scotty
Rating: PG-13

Author’s Notes: This story is part of the Academy-era story arc, which includes “Convergence” and “And All the King’s Men.” “Crossfire” is a direct sequel. Several things in this story will not make sense unless you’ve read

Comments

[avictoriangirl]

Ah ha! I thought that you were leading us on with Terra Prime. ;) I was starting to wonder about the roomie as he seemed a little shifty and I was right about Romano being involved! Now Jim just needs to get better and let Bones take care of him. ♥

[mijan]

Of course it was a fake-out with Terra Prime. Did you think I'd make it that obvious? ;)

[avictoriangirl]

Wellllll, you could have been psyching us out and making us think that Terra Prime was just too obvious so that we stopped suspecting them, when it WAS really them, but I didn't think so. ;)

[mijan]

See, I would have been suspecting the engineering groups, myself, as a reader. As it was, it was indeed *related* to the engineering groups, in a way.

[jademac2442]

I didn't think the Terra Prime could have been real. It might be really hard to pick the one shuttle that Jim had been on. I didn't see Sven coming though I did think that Romano was shady. Well played, very well played.

[mijan]

Well, it was still possible. When I first designed every "possibility" for who did it, I had to be able to work out HOW each one would happen. With Terra Prime, I'd designed someone who had joined the Academy, and then became a Terra Prime sympathizer. Every possible solution to the mystery had a way it would work out.

But Sven... I put a few clues. Just a few, but they were there. :)

[jademac2442]

yeah, now that I know about him, I can completely see it. I never liked Sven, but I didn't think about him being culpable. I should have, there were so many signs. But you know...you never want to suspect the roommate. That's just so creepy. That the person you're living with is...ugh. If I don't sleep tonight b/c I'm suspecting my roomie of sabotaging my shuttle, I'm going to blame you, kay?

[mijan]

Just little clues that it was Sven. Nothing obvious, but once you look back, you can see it. And yeah, it's creepy, but that's part of the point.

And don't have nightmares about your roommate! I'm sure your roommate is perfectly sane. :D

[lap_otter]

Ha! Romano you tricky little bastard. Dangling that suspicious behaviour in front of us one scene and then the next acting innocent as a flower. Everything (well, almost) makes sense now.

Also, roommate=dick. Your little box fucking killed someone. How do you not quit after that?

I was gonna go to bed a chapter ago but that was before the climax. Stopping now would be a crime against my nervous system.

[mijan]

Romano was an interesting character for me to write. He reminded me of someone I know. The person I know didn't do anything evil and wasn't involved in anything remotely like this, but the same personality type, and I could see him getting sucked into this for his own purposes until he realized it had gone too far.

Yeah, you don't want to fry your nervous system like that. Must keep reading! ;)

[thistlerose]

Oh, Jim! I thought the roommate was acting rather suspiciously a couple of chapters back, but I assumed he was part of some sort of larger scheme. Hmm, though I guess there could be a twist in the two chapters remaining.

Poor Jim. Even though he and Sven weren't friends, they shared a living space. He let his guard down with him. That betrayal has got to hurt.

[mijan]

Sometimes, the harshest realization is just how such a small, stupid thing can destroy so much. And yeah, Jim let his guard down. He never saw it coming... and that's part of what makes him who he becomes. It's not that he let is guard down... it's that he underestimated Sven. Didn't see him for what he was. As a result, he was caught unaware.