Eddies Of Time - Part II

Posted on Thu Dec 10th, 2015 @ 12:21pm by Admiral Lucius Hawke & Ensign Six of Ten & Lieutenant Bajun Julisa & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & Bajun Tora

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Bajor 2360

* Gallitep *

In Darhe’el’s room, Julisa had napped, lightly and uncomfortably, sitting up against the Cardassian’s bedpost. In her moments of sleep, she dreamed horrible things: Darhe’el had woken and she was unable to get away from him; he tackled her and stabbed her - always in the left shoulder, just like the man on Bajor had so many years in the planet’s future and not so many months in her past. When he began to stir, she came fully awake and picked up her club again.

A groan came from Darhe’el and he rubbed his head. “What did you….oh. The chair leg.” He started to sit up but a wave of dizziness overcame him and he dropped back to the floor. “I should kill you,” he growled.

“Say it again or come near me and I’ll use this to take your dick off,” she snarled back, well aware that she couldn’t kill him. Of course, she also couldn’t let him go anywhere. “Ah, hell,” she swung before he could fully recover, aiming for his head.

He tried to roll away and succeeded in taking the blow to his shoulder. He rolled again to put enough distance between them to keep her out of reach. “Stop that!” he bellowed. He had a disruptor in his nightstand but at the moment he had no chance of getting there.

“Why should I stop this? If I do, you’ll just kill me,” she said and readied to swing the chair leg again.

Darhe’el managed to get to the closed bathroom door and sat up, leaning back against it. Slowly, the dizziness began to subside. They had, for the moment, reached a standoff.

“How long do you want to live?” he grunted.

“Oh, I figure I have a lot more years in my life than you do in yours,” she said. They were beyond an impasse and she was hoping he didn’t realize it: he was beyond her reach; the most she could do at the moment was hit his legs. Hers were still cuffed to the bedpost.

“We’ll see about that Miss Hawke,” he spat out the words. “You have become more trouble than you are worth, no matter what you may know about my future.”

She froze, sensing both Darhe'el's hatred of her, of all Bajorans, but also picking up something else: controlled fear, surprise, anxiety. Those weren't coming from the Cardassian in front of her. She glanced at the bedroom's doorway. The emotions were coming from the hallway and, since she could sense them from the bedroom, exceptionally strong and felt by more than one person. A familiar mind was out there, making her grin with hope. "Maybe you should find some pants, Mr. Bastard."

* Hallway *

Darwin eyed the door controls for just a moment before muttering, “Fuck it,” and firing his phaser at them. The door popped open and he entered ahead of Lucius and Six, ready to fire on anything that moved. He wasn’t surprised when the first room, a living and office area, was empty; if he’d had a woman like Julisa, he’d have had her in the bed. Darwin glanced back at Lucius and hoped the man hadn’t caught that.

“Darwin?!” Julisa shouted from the bedroom then grunted as Darhe’el grabbed her. “Ow! Let go of me!”

That was not what Lucius wanted to hear and he burst through the door to the bedroom just behind Darwin. Leveling his weapon, he took aim at Darhe’el’s head. “Let her go or I’ll drop you where you stand.”

“Watch your aim,” Darwin admonished Lucius before he could stop himself. He quickly assessed the situation: Darhe’el had an arm around Julisa’s waist and a disruptor leveled at them. Julisa’s balance was off and Darwin quickly saw why: she was cuffed to the bedpost by an ankle. He thumbed the setting switch on his phaser to make certain it was as low a setting as possible and, looking straight at Darhe’el, ordered Lucius, “Hawke, be ready.” Without another word, he shot Julisa, making her dead weight in Darhe’el’s arms.

Just as Darwin stunned Jules, the Cardassian taunted Lucius, “Hawke? I can see why you’d come to rescue your wife....” Darwin’s aim was true and Darhe’el did just what Darwin expected: he dropped Jules even as his jaw and his bathrobe dropped open.

“She’s my daughter and that means you and I have a problem,” Lucius growled. “No Cardassian will ever touch her again. You’re a very tempting target but I --” He stopped as Six dashed into the room and took in the scene. Seeing Darhe’el as he was she blushed a deep red.

“Close that!” she ordered and waved at the Cardassian with her disruptor. “I’ll get that shackle open Darwin. If he moves, shoot off his...you know.”

“You offensive, impudent woman!” Darhe’el lifted his disruptor and looked from Darwin to Lucius. “And you - Lucius Hawke, Starfleet officer aiding the Resistance. If you get out of Gallitep, I will hunt down everything that you value and kill it. Like her, for starters,” he turned his attention and disruptor down towards Julisa.

“Lose the weapon, Darhe’el,” Lucius ordered. “Or I’ll let her have a crack at you.” He nodded towards Six. “Believe me you’ll regret it.”

Darhe’el chuckled, ever the confident Cardassian. “At this range, are you aware of what a disruptor will do to her head?”

Darwin was well aware of what a disruptor would do; he had very recent knowledge of just how awful disruptors were at close range. “Lucius...,” he glanced at the man. “Are you going to or shall I?” He was willing to let Lucius have the pleasure of hitting the man’s still-exposed junk (he apparently didn’t take orders from women well and didn’t give a damn about modesty), but Lucius needed to take it quickly.

“Tell me something Darwin,” Lucius began. “Is there any record of his having children?”

“No,” Darwin answered, “At least not this close to his death.”

“Good.” Lucius pressed the button on his phaser and fired, taking down Darhe’el in a flash. The disruptor clattered to the floor. “He’s stunned only. I couldn't risk screwing up the timeline any further. Pity that.”

“Darwin?” Six looked up from the floor beside Julisa. “I’m going to get this away from her skin as much as I can. Burn through it? Then we can let Lucius carry her and we’ll clear the way.”

“I’ll...,” Darwin was about to say he’d carry Jules - he was the one who shot her - but remembered his injury. “Right, Lucius can carry her. I’ll cut the chain; we can worry about the cuff later.” He talked while he reset his phaser and started burning through the chain between the cuffs, “You realize this guy’s going to remember your name, right? Cardassians aren’t known for being forgiving. Your time here on Bajor might be over, Lucius.”

“He has to find me first you know. So far, that’s been one of his biggest failures. He knows the camp is out there and has yet to discover where. I’ll deal with it when it happens.” When Darwin finished cutting the chain, he lifted Julisa in his arms. “Alright, get us the hell out of here.”

Six took Darhe’el’s disruptor and primed it, then did the same to her own. “Me first Darwin. I’m easier to heal up.” She looked from one to the other, then slipped through the living room and into the corridor. Moments later there were shouts and weapons fire.

Hating that Six and Lucius were more mobile and agile than he was, Darwin nodded and followed after her. The way she cleared a hallway was impressive. “Six! Hold up. We can get the Korenna to transport us out now,” he called to her and tapped his commbadge. “Korenna, four to beam up, immediately near me.”

“Good, because there’s more coming!” she called back.

“Stay close now,” Lucius ordered and in moments, the four of them faded from view.

**************
Lt. M. Darwin
Ensign Six of Ten
Lt. Lucius Hawke
Vedek Bajun Tora
Gul Darhe'el
Lt. Bajun Julisa