Not My cup Of Tea

Posted on Sun May 25th, 2014 @ 12:16am by Lieutenant Commander Nicolao & Petty Officer 1st Class Drusilla Dupree

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Below The Equator

* * * Somewhere Below The Equator * * *

The room was dimly-lit and cool, just the way Daro liked it. It was also bare-bones, containing only one chair which he now occupied. He sat, his elbows propped on his knees, regarding the figure that lay on the floor before him. A sweep of blonde hair covered her face and she was, at the moment, unmoving. Disgust rose within him. Humans were so frail and, in his opinion, useless. No, he amended, this one was going to be quite useful in her own small way. Once she’d served her purpose, he’d get rid of her and be on his way with what he came here for.

He knew that by now, station security would be on the job, looking for her. It would take a while to search a place this big and he’d taken steps to reduce the likelihood of a quick station-wide scan finding her. He reached down and with surprising gentleness, moved her hair aside to reveal a small silver disc attached to her forehead. It would prevent a scan from detecting her thought patterns, whether that scan came from the computer or a person. When one was tracking a telepath, one came prepared.

He studied the woman’s face intently, then shook his head. He had absolutely no idea what Nico saw in this one. Then again, what passed in the Enaran’s head was about as damaged as it came, in Daro’s opinion, and it was largely Daro’s doing who was responsible for that sorry state of affairs. The disgust within shifted to anticipation and a shadow of a smile appeared on his face. Reaching down beside the chair, he lifted a glass of water. His smile widened at the memories the glass brought back of another glass, another place and time. Without a word, he raised his hand and splashed the water over the woman’s face.

She quickly sat up, sputtering a bit from the water, then looked around trying to get her bearings. When she saw him standing over her, she began to scoot away from but quickly met the bulkhead wall. “Where am I? What the hell do you want with me?”

“You’re still on the station, if that’s any comfort to you. and yes, you’re here with me and not all cozy in your office drinking tea with the Counselor. How’s your head?” There was no sympathy in his voice as he asked the question. “Fair warning. There’s a device on your forehead. Trust me when I say that you really don’t want to remove it. Not only will that bring consequences from me, but the pain will make you regret it.”

As she slid her hand up to feel the device the only words she could muster were, “He doesn’t only drink tea, moron.” She wasn’t sure why she’d said that. Did Robin really ever drink anything else? Either way, that was about as good as her ‘tough talk’ was going to get right now. Her head was pounding.

Her retort brought a harsh laugh from Daro. “Oh, that makes all the difference.” The sarcasm in his tone was heavy. “Not that it matters, he’s not really my concern. You’re a smart girl, I’m sure you can figure out why you’re here.”

“For some strange reason,” she said as she wiped more water from her face, “you believe that Nico will come running after me. I can only assume you think that he wronged you in the past, or something, and you’re here for revenge.” She straightened her back and winced. “Hell, for all I know you want to swap recipes.”

“Let me tell you a little story,” Daro answered. He leaned closer, holding Drusilla’s gaze with his own. “The only wrong he did to me was to escape before I was ready to let him go. He and I go way back, you might say, to a time he’d rather forget. Do you want details?”

With sudden realization, she knew what he was saying. “The prison. So, you were there, one of his tormentors. And, no, I don’t need details. I’ve already heard more than I would have liked.”

“Interesting. I’m surprised he was that open with someone like you.” Daro paused as he considered it. He was actually rather pleased. That told him this one was closer to Nico than he’d thought. “That is good news actually. It will make this all go more smoothly. You are a far better lure than I thought.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Let’s just say that I know how he thinks. I doubt one scrap of anything personal would pass his lips.” He paused briefly, watching her. “Unless you mean something to him. It’s a shame you had to get caught up in this.” He paused again, then laughed. “Nah not really. You’re just something to make use of to get what I need and get out.”

“He didn’t tell me all of that because we have something special going on, you tool. I am the Counselor’s aide. He talks about this during his sessions. He has to.” She almost continued telling him that if he didn’t open up and come to terms with his problems that Starfleet would boot him. But she didn’t have to tell him that some of the information was obtained while they were soaking up the sun on Archadia Prime. It was just none of his damn business.

Daro laughed once more. “No one can make him say anything. But since you brought it up, how’s our boy doing in therapy? That mess of a man is enough to keep your counselor awake nights is my guess.”

She desperately wanted to give him a tongue lashing that he wouldn’t forget, then thought better of it. This man could probably say things that would put her poor stable of expletives to shame. Also, if she did open her mouth again, she might just feed him information that he could need. So, she clammed up.

“So, it’s like that is it? Suit yourself.” He stretched his legs out before him and considered his next move. He couldn’t keep her hidden forever, and it would be a simple matter to scan for Cardassian DNA and then security would beat a path to his door. So, he decided to hedge his bets a little. “Stand up.”

She didn’t move, not until he hissed a bit and yanked her up by the arms. And he was strong! His grip was sure to leave a bruise on her upper arm and he could have dislocated her shoulder had he yanked a tad harder. But she had made up her mind. She wasn’t going to help him. He’d have to make her do what he wanted.

He led her over to the comm panel in the wall by the door. “Call him.”

“Call who? Robin?” she asked knowing full well who he was referring to. “What’s he going to do?”

“Nicolao.” He tightened his grip on her wrists and twisted them just a little. “Now.”

“And how would I do that? He doesn’t have a communicator, I don’t think. And I don’t think you want me going for a station-wide page.” Did he have a communicator? She couldn’t remember. “So unless you want everyone knowing where we are, you should probably re-think your master plan.”

“Very well, you asked for it.”

He slammed Drucilla face first into the wall, then watched as she crumpled to the floor. Without pause, he stepped over her, opened the doors and departed, locking the doors behind him. Time was running short.

She had expected him to get upset but not violently. Now that she thought more on it, she should have seen it coming from what Nico had told her of his time in the prison. Blood was pouring from her nose. She squeezed her nostrils shut and tried to stand, but her head was swimming. She needed something--a rag, anything. Except for a few chairs, the room was empty. Pulling off her tunic, leaving only her undershirt, she blew the stored up blood from her nose and then squeezed the fabric to her face.

“So much for the silent treatment,” she said softly to herself. “I should have kept my mouth shut and did what he asked.”

She wasn’t Nico, or Leto or anyone even slightly tough, for that matter. Trying to outsmart him would only be met with more violence, but she didn’t want to just give in. She was a Starfleet officer! She couldn’t just lay down and die.

She had to think of something.

**************
Daro
A Man With A Plan

PO2 Drusilla Dupree
Not A Good Hostage