Welcome Home Party

Posted on Mon Mar 7th, 2016 @ 6:37pm by Captain Li Hawke & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin & IKS Ning'Tao

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Romulus - The Fortress

* Romulus - The Fortress *

Kaeli’s mind was spinning off kilter. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but she knew she was cold. She could feel the stone floor beneath her and realized it was stone against bare skin. The last thing she recalled was being in Rekar’s office then….nothing. She was in total darkness and had to check with her finger to make sure her eyes were actually still in her head and open. One couldn’t be sure in this place. She cried aloud when she poked herself in the eye but with the pain came relief. She checked her body and realized she was, in fact, naked.

“Asshole,” she muttered and her teeth began to chatter. She tried to sit up to get some of her off the floor and every muscle in her body screamed. She gave up and cursed again. The noise apparently got some attention and she could now hear approaching footsteps. They were muffled, which meant this space had a closed door. She was silent, waiting to see who would appear.

The footsteps stopped at her door and the jangle of keys - actual metal keys - echoed into the stone room as the Romulan officer turned the lock and opened the door. He stepped in and kicked Kaeli’s buttock, none-too-gently. “Get up, slag,” he ordered.

“I would if Rekar hadn’t decided to have a workout with my muscles and not tell me. What the hell happened?” The kick had sent a bloom of pain through her lower back but Kaeli wasn’t about to let this man know that. They hadn’t been able to break her ten years ago and they sure as hell weren’t going to this time. “I think I’d rather have a nap. How about a blanket?”

“No,” he answered. “Rekar has a new toy, sold to him by a passing slaver. It’s really sweet and I’m not surprised you don’t recall it. All over pain and muscle contraction, no outward signs,” he taunted her. “Now get up,” he put a boot on her thigh and shoved.

She gritted her teeth to hold back the yelp and managed to make it to her hands and knees. “Where am I going? And if it’s out of here, I want something to wear. Rekar doesn't deserve a free show,” she grunted.

“Sure, once we hose you down,” he said, grinning as she worked to get to her feet. He got impatient and stepped forward to grab her upper arm; he easily pulled her up then shoved her through the doorway to a second officer.

He was just as gentle as his compatriot and they escorted Kaeli down the hallway to a shower stall - which was just a drain in the floor and a literal hose hanging on the wall. One pushed her into the stall, the other turned the water on, leaving the temperature at briskly cold.

Kaeli’s vocal opinion could’ve peeled the paint from the shower stall. Finally, the cold water stopped and she stood shivering, looking like a drowned rat. “I suppose you think that was hysterically funny,” she snapped. “Where’s my clothes?” She wrung the water from her long hair, then flicked it at the guard.

One tossed a small towel at her; the other waited a moment then held out a gunny sack of a dress, the same attire that her friend Isaura had been dressed in. Once she’d pulled it on, the two officers sandwiched her between them and took her to Rekar’s office. “Sir, as you requested,” one said.

Kaeli was silent as the two men retreated. They didn’t leave but took up positions on either side of the door, blocking escape. She turned to face Rekar. “So are you taking me to dinner? If so, I’ll need something a little more presentable to wear.”

“Be glad you have anything to wear, girl.” He stood and hefted a thin black rod in one hand. “I don’t see the point of feeding you, since you’ll just be throwing it up again in a minute.”

“You always did know how to show a girl a good time,” she quipped. “Though from what I heard the last time I was here, most of your dates threw up after an evening with you. I can certainly see why.” She moved forward slowly, taking hold of his shirt. “Still mad you failed before? Don’t feel bad, Vreenak couldn’t score either.”

For the fun of it, he backhanded her with a closed fist and then jabbed the rod into her ribs, sending a spark of pain-inducing energy into her; fibers of the dress turned black and smoldered. He laughed as she writhed. “You forgot, I know. You forgot because we erased certain things from your head, girl, but you broke. Vreenak snapped you easily,” he said.

Kaeli gasped for breath and leaned against his desk for support, trying to stay on her feet. It was important to her that she did, that she not collapse at his feet.

“Liar!” she hissed. “I gave him nothing!”

“Really? Shall we see the replay?” Smirking, he asked the computer to pull up a certain video; it complied, showing the images on a wall console. Vreenak stood over a bloodied, crying Kaeli, who was telling him all about Jarad - everything she knew. “Look at how cooperative you are there,” he said, holding her jaw tightly and making her look.

“It’s a fake. You already knew about Jarad anyway,” she growled. “So?” She tried to wrench her head out of his grasp but it was a useless effort and all she could do was watch the images on the panel. But now her image spoke a name and Kaeli grew still. She had just mentioned Isaura.

“Oh... just a fake? And yet there you are, telling us about your friend, Isaura. Shh... I love this part,” he said, smiling. The information Kaeli gave up in the video was information Ronin had only recently discovered: that Isa worked for the Federation’s fleet, gathering information on the Cardassians. Rekar laughed. “Isn’t that beautiful?” He let her go and stepped around behind his desk. He pulled a woven sack off the floor and emptied its contents onto the desk: a woman’s hand; one finger was adorned with a ring Isaura had been wearing when Kaeli saw her last. “And now you know why we couldn’t just let her leave.”

The video feed, and her own words in it, made her suddenly sick. The hand only made it worse. Perhaps Rekar had been right when he predicted she was going to lose her lunch. The floor seemed to tilt beneath her, throwing her off balance and she slid down the side of his desk to a heap on the floor. A loud ringing began to sound in her hears, echoing in her head as well. She had betrayed those she loved….the one thing she had always prided herself on resisting.

“Why?” she croaked. “Why am I here now? Is she dead?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps I’ve carved a piece off to make you - and her - a bit more compliant. She kept trying to get Lerius to kill her on the way here, apparently believing that you’d somehow know she was dead and not come to get her.” He crouched near her and traced her neck with the black rod without activating it. “You’re here because we intend to put you back on our payroll, officially.”

She flinched away from the rod, but her muscles were too sore to put any real distance between them. “I taught you everything you know,” she whispered. “This is how you repay that? What if I refuse?”

“Then I’ll simply kill you, too.” He thumbed the switch on the rod. After he released it, he added, “Or, perhaps I’ll have your brother brought here and start removing pieces from him. That one, I’ll make you watch.”

They already had Isa, so she had no doubt they could lay hands on Ro too. The only things in her favor at the moment was that none of them were telepathic and so couldn’t read her. She could lie, agree to come back as long as they met her conditions. That would buy her a little time to figure something out, warn Jarad and Drekkar to stay away. Her next words were hard ones.

“What is it you want me to do?”

“The Federation has come into possession of something we want. You’re going to get it for us,” Rekar said. He was slightly suspicious that she’d caved so quickly, but he’d make sure they had a few insurance policies in place for when she betrayed them. “I’m going to hold onto your friend, Isa. She’s fiesty.”

“No. I have some conditions of my own.” Her voice sounded like sandpaper. “First, I need water.”

He motioned one of the officers forward and straightened up. The officer helped Kaeli to a chair; Rekar handed her a glass of water. “Starting with the easy ones, I see.”

She was careful to drink slowly, or it would definitely have returned, probably on the front of Rekar’s uniform. She thought it was, quite possibly, the best thing she had ever tasted. After a few sips, she cleared her throat.

“My old rank?”

“Really? You care about rank at this point?” He made a face and waved a hand, “Done.”

“That means I get to work directly with..you…” she rasped out. “It’ll be like...old times.” She took another drink of her water. “And I want to see Isa. If she is in good health, then we have a deal, as long as she stays that way.” She had read enough to pick up the uncertainty where Isa was concerned, which meant they likely had lost her. She resisted a smile.

He looked at the severed hand. “Other than a hand, she’s in fine condition,” he said. “I’ll have her cleaned up, dressed and brought around for afternoon tea. Till then, let’s continue this little game. Go ahead, make another request.” She was right; he had a good deal of uncertainty where Isa was concerned. She’d slipped their leash and disappeared last night; his crew were still searching for her.

“Since I now outrank those two goons at the door….” She turned slightly to glare at them. “Get lost.”

“Belay that,” he countered. “I still outrank you. Now, what would be so important you want to get me alone?”

“Those two just wanna see me naked,” she snapped. “And they don’t remember that their feet are for walking, not kicking. My next condition - a decent room and clothes.”

“I can hardly send you back to Starbase 900 looking the way that you do. You’ll have a VIP room and clothing befitting your rank.” He glanced at one of the men and nodded his head in a silent order to go get that done. The officer left the office. “I’m surprised by these conditions, Kaeli. They’re remarkably mundane.”

“Just wait till I get my strength back.” She set the waterglass on his desk. “Now then. Isa. I intend to take her back to 900 with me. That will give you time to get her hand repaired. Once she’s away from here, she is off limits.” Kaeli’s attention turned back to the video that was still playing and it rattled her all over again. “Is there anything planted in my body? A tracker? Transmitter? Booby trap perhaps?”


He smiled. “You know our techniques so well, Kaeli. We’ll have it removed. If I release Isaura to go with you, then I’ll need to take someone else. Jarad, perhaps? That could be fun, having him as a guest here in the Fortress. Or Ronin. Don’t bother offering Drekkar; we’re well aware that your group wishes to be rid of him.” He paused, considering that. “Although, if you do wish to be rid of him, we’ll happily take him off your hands. We have students who need practice.”

None of those alternatives was a good one...well...maybe Drekkar….Kaeli gave up on that train of thought immediately. She knew Isa would never allow it. “So tell me, what am I carrying and whose finger is on the trigger?”

He named off a chip make and model, knowing that Kaeli was well aware of what it did. “It’s under my control. I’m loathe to trip that trigger; you’re worth far more to me alive and cooperative than as a houseplant.”

That made her laugh but with the laughter came a sharp pain in her side and it turned to a hiss of indrawn breath. “No jokes. Will you leave the Ning’tao crew alone? That includes Jarad. He’s mine.”

His eyes narrowed at her. “The Ning’tao crew?” He debated whether he could push that definition: ‘crew’ didn’t necessarily include the captain. He nodded, in agreement both with himself and with Kaeli. “Very well, the Ning’tao crew and your precious Jarad will be left alone.”

“When can you get Isa here?” A cry from the still-running video caught her attention, though she’d tried her best to ignore it. On the screen, she watched herself collapse at Vreenak’s feet, begging him for mercy. He had attached a small silver disk to her forehead and as she wrapped her arms around his ankles, he began to laugh. Kaeli fell silent, unable to look away and now a tear ran down her cheek. Ten years she had been so sure she’d come out unscathed. All a lie….and now she began to wonder what else was in her head that she couldn’t remember.

“I’ll have you taken to a room where you can get cleaned up, have something to eat and generally be civilized. As soon as Isa’s hand is repaired, we’ll bring her to you,” he said, buying himself and his teams time to find Isaura. “Lieutenant, take her to Quarters 349,” he ordered.

She motioned him over to help her up. “What else don’t I know Rekar? What else did you erase from my head?” This time, all the bravado had gone out of Kaeli’s voice. “Tell me.”

“Let’s save that for a dinner conversation,” he said smugly. The officer helped Kaeli up and led her out of the office.

“Then I’ll see you in two hours.” She slowly made her way to the door, with the guard’s help, already wondering how long it would take them to find Isa.

**************
Kaeli
Rekar
Guards