The Origins Of Vick And Danny…Part 2

Whew, been a busy few days and I’ve neglected to complete this little untold story. Now…where was I?

Oh yes, that’s right, Vick and Danny. Well, as we saw in my previous post, Vick and Danny’s origins were somewhat cobbled together, but quite a story. I had developed the characters, I had developed the general outline really, but the question was, now what? I had Danny and I had Vick; I stuck the two together in my head and what came about was really quite surprising.

Vick and Danny are not PB and J. They’re not Peanut Butter and Chocolate. They resemble an odd mix, a thing that really has no chance to survive  but somehow, someway, does. Vick and Danny are like Spam and Chocolate Milk.

Let that sink in for a second as I explain this; Spam and Chocolate Milk is a horrible, horrible thing. You take the Spam, you take the Chocolate Milk, you stick them in a blender and you make a concoction that will have the toughest person on Earth (Chuck Norris) crying tears. It. Is. Disgusting. How do I know this?

Uh…well, I had some. A lot of some, actually. It was a kinda “Fear Factor” food thing challenge between a few of the local church groups. It was me versus some poor kid from the Presbyterian church. The one who drank the most Spam/Chocolate Milk mixes in the allotted time won the contest and got bragging rights. It was church pride on the line, people, I had no choice…plus I was stupid and only 14. Factor that in please when you judge. Anyway, I chugged the most in the allotted time, won the contest, and was promptly ill for the rest of the night/next day. Being lactose intolerant did not help me in the contest, but I won anyway; I just paid mightily for it as one can imagine.

That’s why Danny and Vick are, to me, the Spam/Chocolate Milk mix. They shouldn’t exist. They shouldn’t work and it’s sickening, in some respects, to watch them work together. Danny, being the eternal hopeless romantic and optimist, is constantly trying to redeem Vick, no matter what his actions really. Vick, being as depressed and guilt ridden he is, is constantly diving deeper into the abyss. The problem is that, together, the two achieve some weird balance that keeps them from going TOO far in one direction or the other. They kind of tether one another to the middle and if you remove one from the equation, the other goes sliding into their chosen extreme with reckless abandon.

Screwed up? Sure. A total mess? Absolutely. Completely up my alley? Hell yeah.

There’s a reason I’m called “The King of Character Torture”. The tragedies and travesties of our lives play a role in helping shape us. It’s why my characters have them in spades, because we all do frankly, some more than others. These two were a weird, unsustainable, unholy mix of a partnership that strangely managed to survive despite the long odds that it would.

I was quite enamored with them and still am, to some extent. I had plans for them to have their own spin off book that would explore that seedy, unclean side of Starfleet and the Federation more in depth, but it never really developed. I only got down the one chapter before the idea, like many ideas, fizzled out for me. I did make a smashing book cover though, one I really quite liked…maybe it’ll get used in the future. Here’s that.

Vick is Clive Owen (huge fan of his) and Danny is Ryan Reynolds (Also a huge fan). I’ve always like the idea of the two actors together in a movie but it seems quite unlikely. But I can see both of them fulfilling the roles quite well.

And finally, here’s the only chapter I have for them, featuring the very familiar antics of one Danny Scott…and a few other things of course. 😉

Star Trek Lost Souls: Damnation

Ch. 1

“You know, I really do like what you’ve done with the place…it adds a great bit of flare to it.” He smiled at the wall in front of him, his eyes focused on it. “It reminds me of a bar on Archer III I used to go to…a very exotic bar. Not much décor but certainly more than enough…extracurricular activities.”

No one responded-still. By his clock he had been in here for over two hours now without a word from anyone or anything. The room itself was a standard interrogation room. One table, two chairs, a door, and a depressing paint scheme. He’d have thought after three years they’d have repainted it but sadly he was mistaken. 

“You know, in that bar I met a lady by the name of Brenda. Now Brenda…ah, she was a looker if there was one. I mean, you ever meet a girl who just seemed to glow when you saw her…a girl who just seemed to pop in a boring world of noise and confusion? That was Brenda. She had a lot of pop…and certainly spunk.” He smiled at the wall and leaned back in his chair. “She could talk your ear off though…but I didn’t mind. We complimented each other well and we never had a dull conversation.”

He glanced back at the wall, still receiving no indication from the other side that someone was watching. He didn’t see any obvious recording devices in the room but he knew there had to be one somewhere; they rarely stuck him anywhere where he was truly alone. They were always waiting and watching him for any hint of what he knew.

“So, Brenda and me seemed to work out…at first. But after a few weeks I realized she liked those extracurricular activities more than being a single lady, so we parted ways.” He smiled at himself. “Though anytime I’m in that system I do visit her to catch up on old times.”

The door to the room opened briskly and he smiled at the person who had just entered. She was rather good looking and he didn’t mind that at all. He leaned forward in his chair as she sat down and winked at her. “Well, they may not have changed the paint scheme but they did change my case worker; you’re far prettier than my old one was.”

She looked down at the PADD in her hands and then back at him. “You’re Daniel Scott?”

He nodded. “The one and only-though you can call me Danny.”

She put the PADD down on the table and eyed him suspiciously. “You’ve been read your rights?”

“I have…though if you’d like to read them to me again I will support that decision fully,” he said playfully.

“Your accused of treason, murder, espionage, and a myriad of other charges-you realize the situation you’re in?”

He smiled at her again. “The situation I’m in? Of course I realize it. I’m in a bland room with a beautiful woman…such a situation many men would dream of…well, maybe they’d wish for a less bland room.”

She slammed her hands on the table, getting his attention. “Don’t play games with me Scott! Where is he?!”

He wagged a finger at her. “Angry really doesn’t suit you at all…I think you need to relax more. I know a place on Gravak V that has a beautiful view of the ancient city there. In fact, if you look really hard you can see some of the ancient imagery built into the architecture—”

“Where is Johansson?” She interrupted.

He put on a look of innocence. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

She picked up the PADD and scrolled down to a picture of a man. “Him,” she said showing the picture to Danny, “where is he?”

Danny stared at the picture and shrugged. “Afraid I can’t say I know him-though I doubt he would like that picture. He looks like a filthy criminal.”

“He is a criminal, like you,” she said strongly. “If you don’t cooperate, I’ll be forced to recommend you be charged to the full extent of the law.”

Danny feigned consideration. He then grinned. “Okay…if I cooperate will you give me a date? Because that imagery on Gravak V is really something—”

She tapped her combadge and two security officers entered into the room. “Take him to his cell.”

Danny shook his head. “You’re going to miss out on a great time-I swear Gravak V is just as I promised.”

She stepped into his personal space, barely a few inches from his face. “I know Gravak V…the city you’re talking about isn’t allowed to be visited by tourists. Even if it was,” she said with venom, “the imagery you’re talking about built into the architecture is pornographic.”

Danny smiled shamelessly. “You looked like you needed to see how it was done…I doubt you’ve had much experience with fun lately with that kind of attitude; you must surely eat the weaker men.”

“Get him out,” she snarled.

Danny was roughly escorted out of the room and thrown into his cell down the corridor. After a moment of picking himself off the floor he mock saluted the leaving guards.

He sat down on the brigs sparse bench and looked around the room. The usual arrangements; nothing fancy. He figured he get at least a nice brig…after all this was the third time he was a guest here on Starbase 67. He figured he’d get some sort of repeat offender special.

“A side of eggs and a nice thick piece of bacon would be good right now,” he called out to the guard on duty. The guard ignored him, paying him no mind.

Danny sighed and leaned back against the wall. “This reminds me of the time I was a guest on board an Orion freighter…nasty place those freighters. They really have no sense of cleanliness and utterly disregard other species smell preferences. Have you ever smelled a sweaty Orion? It smells like someone died and was bathed in Klingon bath water.”

The guard looked up and raised an eyebrow.

Danny nodded in understanding. “You’re right; Klingons don’t take baths.”

He watched her exit the room in a huff and closed his eyes. She had lost her cool and allowed Scott all the room he needed to distract her.

“I want her off the case,” the admiral behind him demanded.

Nathan rubbed his eyes and turned to face the admiral. “Sir, please, give her—”

“No more pleading with me, Captain Brennan. I want her off-now.”

“Yes, Admiral,” Nathan said slowly. He had feared Noble would make this difficult and he was right. Admiral Francis Noble was a man many disliked and many feared; he wielded great power as head of Starfleet’s Department of Internal Affairs. Noble’s authority was backed up by Starfleet Intelligence and that didn’t help the man’s image.

But for whatever aspects Nathan disliked Noble for, he did respect the man; he had a winning record and closed out cases quickly back when he was an investigator. Nathan was promoted to captain due in no small part to Noble’s influence in the department. As an investigator himself, Nathan had a lot to learn from Noble; there were just some days he wished the admiral was a little more understanding.

A quick tap of his combadge summoned Commander Gala Fresnel into the room and Nathan made sure to look her directly in the eyes; it wasn’t easy for him to pull her off the case…they were involved at the moment and Admiral Noble wasn’t too pleased about that either. “Commander, I’m afraid you’re being removed from this case. It is the opinion of myself and the admiral that Scott doesn’t see you as a threat…he sees you as a plaything.”

Gala’s eyes burned with anger, but she remained calm-at least on the exterior. “Sir, respectfully, I’d like another crack at him; I think I can get to him.”

“You did get to him,” Noble replied abrasively, “and he got to you, Commander. I expect an unwavering amount of self control from my officers, especially when overseeing a case such as this; he’s a dangerous man, Commander, and his partner is ten times more lethal than he. He’s playing games with you and that means he doesn’t take you seriously; I’m pulling the plug,” he said as he narrowed his eyes at her, “and that’s final; understood?”

Gala gave a curt nod of acknowledgement, though Nathan could see in her eyes how angry she was.

“Good,” Noble said quickly, “dismissed.”

Gala about faced and walked out of the room briskly, her calm exterior beginning to crumble slowly. Nathan knew he’d find her in the holodeck later, probably killing some poor simulation. She didn’t take losing well and this would qualify as a loss in her book.

Noble turned to Nathan and scowled. “I hope you have a suggestion who to put on this case.”

“I recommend myself—”

“Absolutely not!” Noble insisted strongly. “You’ve worked this case for the last nine years, nearly ten now…as head of this station’s Internal Affairs division, you’re place is authoritative, not leading an investigation.”

Nathan’s face flushed red briefly, but he controlled himself. “Sir, I have more experience than my entire staff-overseeing this investigation to its conclusion is something I swore to myself I’d do.”

“Overseeing it is something you will do,” Noble responded harshly, “but that’s all; taking an active part in this investigation will draw unneeded attention to it. Request denied, Captain; try again.”

Nathan locked his jaw and contemplated the question at hand. Noble wouldn’t allow him to do it and Noble wouldn’t allow Gala to do it; that left few options. “Sir, you’ve seen my entire staff and you know that no one here is qualified to work this case as well as I or Commander Fresnel; you’ve eliminated all the options I have available.

Noble shook his head. “You have someone arriving later today that would suit the case fine; he’s just as much a man who likes to play as Mister Scott is.”

Nathan looked at Noble in surprise. “Sir…you vehemently dislike Harrison—”

“I dislike his brother; I like him a little more. He at least understands his job and does it well…his brother, as evidenced by his capture, did not. I want him on this case and in a room with Scott tomorrow morning. You’ll send Commander Fresnel to brief him upon arrival.”

“Sir, respectfully, I’m the best person to brief him,” Nathan argued quickly.

“Commander Fresnel was in that room with Scott…she’ll have insight you or I don’t. I want her to brief Harrison-you and I have another meeting tonight.” Noble glared into the glass. “It’s not one either of us should look forward to, but it will help speed this case along.”

“Who are we meeting, sir?”

Noble frowned. “Carry out my orders and meet me at my quarters at 1800 hours; don’t be late.” He walked out of the room briskly and Nathan let loose a deep sigh.

“Smug bastard,” he said under his breath, careful to vent his frustration slowly. He had to inform Gala and then he had to prepare himself for a night out on the town with Admiral Noble.

Fate was out to torment him today.

 

And that’s it. As you can see, Danny is himself there, very much as he is still himself now. Not much has changed with Danny in nearly two years. Vick is briefly referred to there a few times but he wasn’t supposed to play a big role until a a few chapters down the line as I had it planned out.

The set-up, at least how I had it planned anyway, was that Danny had purposefully gotten captured. Vick needed him on the inside of the station to help them steal a Defiant class there for repairs. It was going to be very Star Trek III-esqe that particular scene (probably with a few references to that movie in the scene as well). They were going to need the firepower of the ship to bring down a Section 31 ship that carried none other than everyone’s favorite agent, Sloan. It was Vick’s plan to capture Sloan, get him to clear him and Danny’s names (a lot of things had been blamed on the two that weren’t true) and get S31 to reveal the location of Vick’s wife-he strongly suspected they knew where she was.

As for the other characters, well, they’re roles were somewhat undefined. Commander Fresnel was going to be Danny’s love interest, Captain Brennan was going to be the guy who wanted to see Danny and Vick behind bars no matter what, and Admiral Noble was the guy who had the connections to S31 and the shady dealings. Anyone who’s read my Star Trek Chronicles series knows that Admiral Noble is not a nice man; he’s pretty much a dick.

And who is the Harrison that Admiral Noble was referencing in the chapter? That was Hank’s youngest brother, Jake Harrison, also a fellow Starfleet officer. This book was, more or less, going to debut Jake and would allow him to get out there on his own. Hank’s other siblings don’t get a lot of mention in the main books, or even in the prompts; they’re kind of glossed over, sadly, but each is distinctive in their own way and certainly worth writing about.

But none of it really came to pass sadly. That was the only chapter written and though I quite like it, the idea never got off the ground really. The story, like so many others before it, got red shirted, and now lies on the harddrive of my computer, waiting for me to get back to it.

Today though, it’s story has been told, and hopefully it has been somewhat enjoyable for you folks. As always, any and all comments are welcome. Thanks for reading.

The Origins Of Vick And Danny

Well, it’s time for another untold story ladies and gentlemen and this one has to do with my dynamic duo, Vick Johansson and Danny Scott. To sum each up in a sentence, Vick is this uber depressed alcoholic with homicidal tendencies and lots of grudges. Danny is the talktive, eternal optimist, hopeless romantic, who tags along with Vick as they both are on the run from Section 31 (scary cats).

But exactly where did these two come from? Both were and still are rather unique characters in my rather large stable of characters. There hasn’t really been other characters like them; the two are largely codependent on one another. You take one away from the other and things generally don’t go well.

Well, Vick and Danny surprisingly share some of the same origins as Hank Harrison and some of the Pearl crew; they’re from an email based RPG that sadly never got off the ground. There was literally one post from just about everybody involved and then it died. At the time, Vick and Danny were named differently…in fact, they were pretty much different characters entirely; Vick was named Tommy while Danny was named Dan. Here’s the only post I ever wrote in that RPG, over two years ago:

 

“Oh hell!” The sparks from the console rained on Dan and he threw his arms up to protect himself. “Tommy, we’ve lost helm!”

His partner in crime punched his fist into the console and grimaced in pain. “Damn it!”

Tommy stood up and headed for the escape pod.

Dan stood as well, but got in way. “We’re not leaving!”

“Why not?! She’s gonna crash and burn.”

Dan shook his head. “Come on, we got to try and save her!”

“You try, I’ll run. I’m not wasting time on a broken ship!”

The ship lurched violently and both the men were thrown against the nearby bulkhead. The ship began to spin out of control as Dan watched the stars whirl around them.

He tried to move but the gravity was failing and he was pinned down.

“Damn you and you’re sentimentalism!” Tommy tried to reach for his gun but failed. The gravity was too strong.

“I like my ship!”

The console beeped. Dan smiled desperately. “The ship’s found another vessel!”

“Good, we can take out two for the price of one!” Tommy tried his hardest to pull away but couldn’t.

Dan didn’t even try. Whoever was nearby, it was up to them to save Dan and Tommy.

 

And that was it. I was the set up post for the entire thing; my dynamic duo of Tommy and Dan were going to get rescued by a Starfleet vessel, their past as former S31 agents would be brought up, they would get captured, and things would go from there. Unfortunately, it never got that far, but Tommy and Dan had been created.

As you can see through some of the interactions, Tommy and Dan had a weird, if not fun, dynamic which I found hard to forget about. I mean, they were just created for an RPG but since it was dead, they had no where to go. I felt bad for them, so I wanted to really use them for something; by this point we’re in late 2009, early 2010. I had just completed the second book of the Star Trek Chronicles series and was in need of a bit of a break…I wanted to write other characters; I wanted to explore other things.

I was a bit burned out on the Pearl crew. I mean, you can write the same characters so often it just kinda grates on you after awhile and this was where I was at. So, I decided to turn my attention to the question of Tommy and Dan but I really didn’t have a place to start.

And then a challenge on Ad Astra caught my attention. It was the Academy Hi-Jinks Challenge and I was looking to actually use Hank initially for the challenge, but it went no where. Luckily, it was extended and I got a chance to start development from scratch; so I decided to take my Tommy character and rename him Vick (because that seemed so much cooler) and explore exactly how he became a Section 31 agent.

That exploration turned into the story One Damned Prank which won that challenge in a close vote and seemed to really make an impression on people. That’s when the rest of the details began falling into place for Vick; I knew I had a character that seemed to be interesting to people (always a good thing) and I wanted to make his story a rather sad and tragic one (very much matching the vibe of the story he premiered in). So, all that being said, I was going to take Vick down a dark and twisty path that offered little hope of redemption; I was going to put this guy through hell and back.

You see, Vick would run a lot of ops for S31, but his first one was written about in Gusts and Gales. It was there were Vick would sell off the first piece of his soul and from that point on the slide began. Vick would engage in more depravity and feel even less about it. He was becoming a cold and ruthless weapon, exactly what S31 wanted; but they misjudged just how dead he was inside when they sent him on a two year undercover mission.

On that mission, Vick was supposed to get close to a very powerful Orion Syndicate family; he married into it and slowly worked his way up the food chain. The problem was, he was given orders to kill them, all of them…including his wife. Here’s an excerpt;

 

It was later that night when Vick was standing inside the house, his wife in his arms. He had married her two years ago to get into the Syndicate…to go deep undercover. He had never imagined…never guessed the feelings she would unlock in him. And now…those very same feelings he had treasured for these last two years were his greatest weakness. “You have to promise me, T’alyn-promise to keep your end of the bargain.”

She looked up to him, her eyes full of confusion. “I don’t understand any of this…not at all. You have to get me away from here, but I can’t be with you…you have to place me in the care of others, but you don’t who they are or where they’ll take me. Worst of all, you expect me to do this while my family is left behind…and while I leave you behind.” She pulled herself from her arms and stood angrily. “This isn’t right!”

Vick stood quickly, his hands reaching out for her arms, gripping them tightly. He pulled her in close, his face full of conviction and anger. “Don’t fight me on this! You will die if you stay here, do you understand?! You. Will. Die. Isn’t that clear to you? I…I have to get you away, and I can’t know where you’re going…I don’t know even if the people I have coming are trustworthy…but I have no choice. You have to go…and you have to leave me behind. You can’t attempt to find me…you wouldn’t anyway.”

“So what should I do?! Sit and wait for you?! Grow old looking to the sky, wondering when you’ll arrive?!” Tears streamed down her face and she ripped herself away. “I refuse! Do you hear me, I refuse!” She began to walk towards the door, her movement fast and angry.

Vick was left with no choice. He brought a small phaser out and fired it, stunning her to the ground. She collapsed into a pile.

He bent down, picking her up, cradling her form for a moment. He kissed her lightly on the lips and pulled away. “I’ll find you…I swear.” He placed a small holographic chip into her pocket, where she was sure to notice it. That would explain everything…his life, his job…why they were married. He hoped, as much as he ever hoped in his entire life, that she would understand some of it…any of it. He knew though, that the reality was she’d probably hate him for as long as she lived. Maybe he should just let her live the lie…maybe it would be better to keep her blissfully unaware.

But then, love…love had no boundaries, no secrets…if he really loved her, he would have to tell her the truth.

After considering these things, he carefully made sure the chip was secure in her pocket, and then stood. He tapped the combadge for the signal, and then attached it to her shirt. In a glimmer of blue light she vanished.

In those seconds, what was left of his heart went with her.

 

Vick would carry out his orders, killing the family, but instead of a painless death as S31 promised with the transporter scramblers he was given, the family instead died a very painful death and Vick would have those memories with him for the rest of his life. This is where he began to plan his escape from S31…to get away from them, to find his wife, to redeem himself for all the sins he had committed.

But before I could do any of that, I needed to figure out the other half of the dynamic duo. Dan was going to act as the anchor that kept Vick in this world, I knew that, but as to how Dan was going to do that…what Dan was like…I didn’t know. First thing that had to change was the name though…Dan did not enthuse me so I decided to give it a more friendly flare and changed it to Danny.

But as to why he got his last name Scott, well, that’s due to one person alone, SLWalker. You see, SLWalker had written a lot of great Scotty stories; she really fleshed out the life of that character in a way that will likely never be matched in my mind, it’s just that good. Those stories and more can be found here.

Anyways, Danny ended up with the last name Scott simply because of my adoration for the way SLWalker wrote Scotty. Now, it’s never stated in canon that Scotty ever had any kids or any flings that resulted in kids (I somehow doubt he ever did) and I never make that connection between Danny and Scotty. The extended Scott family carried on Scotty’s legacy and were always looking for the next Scotty. Fast forward a few generations later, and we arrive at Danny who was slated to be the next great engineer from the Scott family.

Except, Danny really didn’t want that. He’d been pushed into it as a kid and he was hugely resentful of it by the time he was approaching his pre-teen years. That resentment and the family discourse in general is covered in Traditions. It’s here that a few things about Danny are revealed; firstly, he doesn’t want to be the next Scotty and secondly, that his mother is physically abusive towards him. This would play a huge part in Danny’s development as a person as hope would be something he eternally held onto for his mother and his family in general; hope that his mother would change for the better, hope that his family wouldn’t force him to go into Starfleet, hope that things didn’t have to go down the path they were seemingly destined to.

Sadly, Danny’s hopes never came true. He ended up at the academy, flunked out after two years, and was recruited by Section 31 to work with them. Danny, who had no future as it was, joined up with them because he thought as least there he could make a difference. He was a disappointment to his family and he felt like he failed them…he wanted to lessen that feeling, hence why S31’s offer to work for them was so quickly accepted.

Danny, being the friendly, talktive, somewhat annoying, blabber mouth that he was was quite intelligent; he was charming, cocky, and not S31 material really…which is exactly why he was made an S31 agent. No one would ever suspect him. Vick and Danny would work a few ops together but when Vick made his escape attempt Danny joined up with him. It was completely unplanned, spur of the moment, but Danny liked Vick; he was his friend and Danny is fiercely loyal to friends. So, he helped Vick escape (much to Vick’s dislike) and the two from that point on were together. They would remain so for many years.

The dynamics between them, their own story, and how they were further explored I’ll get into next time. As always, any and all comments are welcome and thanks for reading.