Consequences, Part 2

Posted on Sat Sep 12th, 2015 @ 11:17pm by Ensign Reva Madhava & Desta
Edited on on Wed Oct 7th, 2015 @ 1:37am

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Fisher's Ship

The shifter remained still for several minutes after Fisher departed, as if assuring herself he wasn’t coming back. Finally, she reached up to wipe the sprinkles of blood from her cheek but only succeeded in smearing them. A soft moan escaped her and she wiped at it more frantically, but to little avail. Finally she moved hesitantly towards Reva, speaking as she came.

“If I behave, Pash will wash it off. He knows blood terrifies me.” She reached out to Reva’s chin and carefully brushed away the blood there and wiped her fingers on the wall.

Moving slowly, Reva watched the woman's fingers and stared at the dark streaks. Suddenly, she sobbed. "I'm so sorry! It's all my fault! If I hadn't...." She stopped speaking because there were so many things she shouldn't have done - trying to sabotage the man's ship was just the last in a long list of bad decisions.

The young woman looked back at Reva and shook her head. “She was not his first. Sometimes he does it for his amusement. Before her was another who suffered the same fate….because of me.” She covered her mouth for a moment and closed her eyes. “It was a matter of me or him. One of the crew. Before this.” She touched the heavy collar she wore. "I defended myself and another died for it. Then he gave me to Pash.”

"The collar. What does it do?" Reva touched the jewels at her own neck.

“It prevents my changing forms and keeps me in the form that Pash prefers. It makes it impossible for me to do anything to….to get out of here,” she answered. “Do not blame yourself. If you do, you will lose. It’s what he wants you to do.”

Reva's jaw set. Fisher had her terrified, but she wasn't willing to give up yet. "What do you know of this ship? Big? Small? If there's a shuttle, we could take it. If I can get to the engines, I could disable the ship," she could think of several ways to escape. How far away was a pursuing ship? Was there a pursuing ship?

The dismay in the woman’s eyes was not hope-inspiring. “I am in a room, next to you I think. Fisher is rather loud. I have seen that deck and this, but Pash likes to blindfold when he moves me. I think, though, that the bridge is above the rooms. It takes a few minutes for him to arrive if he calls from there. Maybe four decks then?” She looked curiously at Reva and touched her arm, letting her fingers remain. You are a telepath.

I am. A touch-telepath. Reva held the woman's hand and did something she normally wouldn't: she read her without asking permission, sorting through various memories and thoughts to see what the shifter might know about the ship that she didn't realize she knew. The things she saw in the woman's mind made her sick; this woman had lived through things that would make anyone wish for death. Reva tried to put that aside and take only the information about the ship. She added what little she already knew about the ship. She kicked herself: she should have read this in Fisher's head. "Desta. I'm Reva. Ensign Madhava of Starfleet. They'll be coming after us."

Reva’s words seemed to have little effect. “My own people think I am dead, thanks to Fisher so no one is looking for me. I hope yours do not believe it if they are told so.” She squeezed Reva’s hand. “You are right. The one thing I wish for here I will never be given. Although…” she fell silent once more. Pash has ideas. He wishes to keep me but Fisher will never allow that. He has begun to think dangerous thoughts where his captain is concerned.

"But he still told Fisher you weren't behaving," Reva pointed out. "Come closer." She urged the woman then started looking at her collar. Unlike hers, Desta's didn't connect to the woman's spine. The locking mechanism wasn't simple: she could see it was like the Starfleet ankle monitor. "I could try to remove this. It might shock you a few times."

A muffled laugh came from Desta. “That is nothing. As for Pash, he changes like the wind. When Fisher is looking, he pretends to be as you saw him today. At home, he is sometimes rough, at other times not so. The problem is that you never know which will walk in the door.” She sat still as Reva examined the collar.

Reva took that as permission and pulled her purloined underwire from her bra. She had nestled it there, alongside the bra's underwire, before leaving the Jefferies tube earlier. Good thing, since it was just what she needed. Working carefully, she winced as a shock ran along her fingers and up her arms. It wasn't bad, but she knew Desta had taken the brunt of that. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Can you fake being Fisher if I get this off?"

Desta nodded. “I’ve seen him often enough. How long have you been here?”

"A few days," she answered. "You've been here awhile. Why haven't they sold you yet?" She stopped, looked sheepish then shrugged. "I mean, not that that would necessarily be a good thing."

“I am not so sure. Fisher took an order for one of my kind and when I was taken in the Beta Quadrant, he bought me from another. So I suppose I am what they call a special order that he is to deliver? Otherwise, I would have been gone by now. I do not know who is to get me though. The one who arranged it is not my new owner.” She choked a bit on those last words, hating that they came out so easily. What have we become?

Afraid, Reva replied and hissed as the collar shocked them both. "Crap that hurt!" But then she smiled in triumph and removed the collar from Desta's neck. "There you go. We can clip it closed, but I've disabled the device that keeps you from shifting."

“Ohhhh….” Desta was speechless, pulling Reva to her as the tears flowed. The faintest spark of hope rekindled and she passed it on to Reva. “Thank you.” The words were a faint whisper. What now?

"Yeah. Now what? I need to get to Engineering." She disentangled from Desta, leaving her holding the collar, and went to the cargo door. It was locked, as she expected. She opened the panel next to the door; it was like the wiring in the Jefferies tube: mangled and twisted. "The engineer on this boat doesn't give a damn about his work," she commented and set about hacking the lock.

“Does Fisher sleep on any regular schedule? If you are here, he may take advantage of the time to catch up,” Desta commented. “It won’t do for him to meet himself in the corridor. If so, I can get you to engineering. It’s not far from here I don’t think.”

"If Fisher has a regular schedule for anything, I haven't noticed." Reva paused and looked at Desta. In her current form, she was a petite though buxom blonde; she looked fragile. "Perhaps I should just go alone. I can duck into a service tube and follow it to engineering."

Desta’s eyes widened. “NO!” She cowered as the word echoed around the empty cargo bay. “If he comes back and you are gone...he will blame me and kill you if he finds you, or make you wish for death. It is too dangerous. If I am with you, you will be safer, as will I.” She looked at herself and before Reva’s eyes, she changed form into a taller, thin woman with red hair and green eyes. “My usual me.” She shrugged. “It’s pretty obvious what Pash likes.”

"Hmm, yeah," she nodded, reminded that this woman wasn't the sum of her appearance, much like Six. Reva touched the jeweled collar and wondered what sort of collar the Cardassian had for Borg. The cargo bay door hissed open as she finished her hack. "Let's just go. We'll worry about being seen if we're seen." She held out a hand to Desta and led her into the hallway.

Desta stopped and shifted form once more, this time growing taller and bulkier and much more Kazon. “Pash will be on the bridge a while longer,” she whispered, then took hold of Reva’s arm as they moved along the corridor.

As they walked, Reva passed along a plan to Desta: Daleek was angry about the Bajoran. Let's go straight to Engineering and tell him that Fisher is giving me to him for a night. While I distract him, you knock him out.

Desta nodded. Good. We should hurry in case Fisher gets curious or decides he wants a distraction. The pair hurried along the corridor until they reached the doors to engineering. They stopped and Desta passed one last thought to Reva. I must act like Pasha. I am sorry for this.. The doors hissed open and Desta stepped in, jerking Reva with her.

“Daleek, get over here,” she growled.

The engineer turned and, seeing Pash with Fisher's current girl, frowned. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be on the Bridge."

Reva snarled at them both, trying to pull away from 'Pash'.

“Fish sent me on an errand.” Desta shoved Reva down to the deck at Daleek’s feet. “He says it’s not your fault this one caused you to lose your slave. You can have her for the night.” He leaned closer to Daleek. “Trust me, it’s not often that he does something this nice for any of us. If I were you, I’d take her and go before he changes his mind.”

"No, it isn't," Daleek muttered, momentarily confused by the offer. He looked down at the Orion and grinned. "Nice prize. I've never fucked an Orion before. Get up, girl." He kicked her, hard, and Reva lashed out, clawing his leg. "Dammit! Did Keval give you his control device?"

“No. He said he was sure you could handle her.” Desta laughed. “She is a wild one from his stories. Have fun.” She stepped around Reva and to Daleek’s side. “Shall I help you get her back to your cabin?” His tone implied that Daleek couldn’t handle the Orion.

"I can handle her," Daleek glared at Pash. He turned and picked up a tool. "Been awhile since I had a lovely one, though. The Bajoran was well broken in before Kev passed her on." He hefted the tool then made it spark.

Reva, recognizing it as an anti-matter calibrator, eased away from him and stood. "There's no need for that, engineer. You and I speak a common language: engines. So let's talk," she started towards him, moving slowly and seductively.

Every bit of his attention was on her. Despite the handprints and spatters of blood on her skin, she was the most attractive female he'd laid eyes on in a long time and he didn't want to miss a move. He grinned as she sidled up to him.

Desta watched and chose her moment carefully. As Daleek reached out and touched Reva, She raised her hands, fingers laced together, and brought them down on the back of his neck like a hammer. There was a brief spark as Daleek’s hand activated the calibrator, but the bulky form of Pash worked like a charm and the engineer dropped to the deck. She grabbed the instrument and pressed it to the side of his throat, then pressed the button. His body jerked for a few seconds, then grew still.

“Check his pulse,” she said to Reva.

"After that? He's lucky to still be breathing," Reva checked, though, and nodded. "He's lucky. Those calibrators are no joke." She moved to the engine control panel and hit the full stop button, causing the engines to stall and then ship to start coasting. "And now to make sure it's not a quick stop," she opened the engine's plasma vents, shunted power to the vents and ignited the excess plasma. The ship shuddered from the blast and klaxons went off. "Come on, let's get--", she turned and froze.

In the doorway stood a man, weapon drawn. "So you're the Orion? And I'll bet you're not Pash."

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Ensign Reva Madhava
Desta
Daleek