Panty Raid

Posted on Wed Oct 31st, 2012 @ 5:06pm by Mallory (Jade) & Lieutenant Commander Michael Darwin

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Various / Suresh's Quarters
Timeline: Approx. same time as 'Purple Heart'

Security’s Armory

Security was on high alert and teams were scouring the station, looking for some sign of where the Admiral and the Exec had gone to. So far, there were no signs of them.

Other projects had to move on, particularly since Darwin and Gilroy had a target in their sights: Suresh.

“We got him,” Darwin smiled as he donned a protective vest and checked his phaser’s charge. Others in the room were doing the same thing, all preparing to take part in a raid on Suresh’s quarters, office and business locations.

Gilroy grunted, “Let’s not be too ahead of ourselves. He seems to exude a slime that lets him slip away every time.”

“Yeah, but finding slaves, or just anyone unwilling? He can’t wriggle out of that,” a seasoned Chief Petty Officer added to the conversation. “You two ready? My crew is starting to move into their positions.”

“Ready,” Gilroy said and Darwin nodded.

Lower Levels of the Cherry Pit

“Get this,” a grey-skinned male, one whose mother had had the misfortune of being a guest in a Cardassian prison for a time, croaked at his companion then spoke up, “Computer, locate Suresh.”

=/\=Unable to comply. Suresh is not on the Starbase.=/\=

He grinned at his friend. “You know what that means, right?”

“Uh. No.” The other shook his head, confused.

“No Suresh to guard the little hen in his nest.”

“Ooohhh... Hey, think we could go have some fun?”

The half-Cardassian cocked his head at the other and said, “Gods, you’re dumb. Where do you think I was going with this?”

“I dunno. I’m not a mind reader.”

“Obviously,” he sneered. “C’mon, since we’re already paying the price, may as well have the fun.” He gestured for his friend to follow him and they headed for Suresh’s.

Suresh’s Quarters

“Damned thing.”

Standing in the guest bathroom, Jade looked in the mirror and carefully moved the slave collar to look at her skin underneath it. Red and irritated, it stung slightly where it chafed, but at least there were no open wounds from it. She’d seen a few of the women that had some on the transport during the trip here. Most were from repeated shocks and less than ideal hygiene. Fortunate for her (and it was one of the few things she was fortunate in lately), she had access to soap and water at least. Bare basics, but good enough for now.

Letting her hair back down, she turned off the light and headed back out to the main area to get something to eat from the replicator.

When she entered the living room, she wasn’t alone: two males, one a grey-skinned half-Cardassian, were sitting on Suresh’s couch, looking rather relaxed. The Cardassian was, at least. The other fellow wasn’t quite so relaxed and Jade’s sudden, though expected, appearance made him jump. “Oh, thought for a moment you was Suresh,” he said and grinned in a way that showed just how many of his teeth were missing.

The Cardassian shot his companion a glare and wondered whether this wouldn’t have been more fun without him. “Idiot,” he muttered then looked at the woman. “Looks like Surrey took off and left you behind, girlie.”

Oh shit.

Forcing herself to remain calm, at least outwardly, she held still and tried to bluff, too nervous at the moment to remember Suresh didn’t want her to speak without permission. “He comes and goes as he pleases.” She glanced from one to the other and back to the Cardassian. “You should not be here,” Jade stated in a haughty tone completely inappropriate for a slave to use.

The Cardy laughed and his companion joined in a moment later, though it was clear he wasn’t clear on what was funny. “For a collared girl, you’re sorta... mouthy. I got something for that,” he stood and moved towards her, one hand on his belt, undoing it, the other reaching for Jade’s arm.

Her gaze dropped to where his hand was, catching on in an instant. Had Suresh given her to these two? No, they didn’t say that...they said ‘left behind’. Who cares what they said?! Twisting away from the grey-skinned bastard, she shrieked and bolted.

He was on her in a flash, one hand twisted in her long hair, the other lowering his pants. His friend was there, too, grabbing her head and squeezing her cheeks into her teeth. Just what they intended was self-evident. Both were laughing and unconcerned with whether they hurt the woman.

Panicked and desperate, Jade showed them the same consideration. Apparently, the goons were so concerned with what they were doing they seemed to forget that they’d left both her hands and feet free. Hauling her leg back without warning, she kicked the Cardassian as hard as she could. Instead of her mouth ending up where he wanted, he got her foot painfully smashing into him. At the same time, she reached up and clawed at the hand squeezing her face.

Snarling, the Cardy groaned in pain and his friend chuckled, till Jade’s nails ripped into his skin. “OW!” He shouted and wrenched her head back at the same time he dug a knee into her back. The Cardassian’s hand was caught in her hair, still and he yanked on it, pulling her head in a direction different from that his friend was trying to go. It took a moment for the two to start working together, but they did and shoved Jade towards Suresh’s bed, ripping her thin dress in the process.

“NO!” She tried to fight back, to pull away, but they were too strong for her. Even with the strength she gained from the surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins. It wasn’t enough. Jade landed with a jolting bounce as she hit the bed and immediately tried to scramble away. Hard, grasping hands pulled at her, pulling her back towards them and she lost it. Kicking wildly, she dragged in a deep breath and let loose with a blood-curdling scream.

“I’d take a guess that Surrey hasn’t had his own fun with you, or else you wouldn’t be fighting so much!”, the Cardassian laughed, having recovered his wits from where she’d nearly flattened them with a foot, and grabbed her leg, twisting as he pulled on it.

“I don’t know,” a third, very calm, voice spoke from the doorway, “Sounds to me like she just doesn’t like you touching her.” Like a true superhero, Darwin was there. He grabbed the back of the Cardassian’s jacket and hauled him away from Jade. When the Cardy’s friend tried to intervene, Darwin decked him then let the chief petty officer with him handle him.

Ganesh had no qualms about raising his phaser and delivering a stunning shot to the second man. He hesitated doing so to the Cardassian as he and Darwin were still tussling. Shooting one would affect the other. He held off a moment.

Darwin and the Cardassian fought for a moment then Darwin gained the upper hand. He took it, quickly strapping the Cardassian’s wrists together before stepping back, hands raised, as if he’d just roped a calf in a rodeo. “And we’re good!”, he called before looking at Jade. “Anyone else in here?”

She’d scrambled off the bed as soon as the goons were pulled off of her and now stood next to it, watching in amazement at the turn of events. “No...it’s just me,” she answered softly. Jade was still trembling from a mixture of fear and adrenaline, but she realized the danger had passed and was attempting to calm herself. Feeling cool air on her skin, she glanced down to find her dress torn and in ruins. Grabbing the edges of the thin material, she pulled it closed as best she could to cover herself before looking back up at the tall Security Officer. Her long, bronze colored hair was in wild disarray from her struggles, but it did nothing to distract from her fragile beauty.

“Hey, Ganesh, get these two out of here,” Darwin encouraged the Bolian, “And keep the others out for a minute.”

Ganesh and another officer grabbed the two goons and hauled them out of the bedroom. Darwin heard him telling the others to start the search in the other room. Before turning back to the woman in the room, he pulled the blanket off of Suresh’s bed and held it up to wrap it around her. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to look at her bare breasts or flat belly, but... well, he was a professional. Or tried to be. “I’m Lieutenant Michael Darwin, Security,” he introduced himself, “Judging by the burns under that collar, you’re not here voluntarily.”

Her dark brown gaze watched as the Bolian removed her attackers to the outer room. Holding the blanket closed together with one hand, she reached up to touch the collar. Turning, she now watched the man that had managed to show up at just the right time. Geez, he was tall. At least a foot taller than she was. “The fact I’ve got a collar on my neck at all is the biggest clue,” she said smiling shyly. Holding her hand out in spite of it trembling still, she introduced herself in turn. “I’m Jade. I’m very glad to meet you, Lt. Darwin.”

He paused. Jade? Interesting. Seyla came to mind immediately and a slow grin formed on his lips. He took her hand and shook it. “We’ll see about getting that off. For now, we need to get you out of here. Sickbay is probably the best place for you,” he said. “And then my crew will have some questions for you. Think you’re up for a walk to Piper Medical?”

She couldn’t wait to get the bloody thing off of her neck, but looking down at the blanket, she hesitated. Walking through the station wrapped in bedding from Suresh’s own bed? Not something she wanted to do, but the dress was ruined. If she couldn’t replicate a new dress (all he’d left it programmed for was food and drink), there was the closet in the next bedroom filled with a dead woman’s clothes.

Darwin, unaware of the closet of clothes just a room away, saw her glance down and said, “It’s not the most fashionable, but would you rather walk nearly naked past my crew?” He shook his head and waved a hand in a ‘no, no,’ motion, “Nevermind, don’t answer that. I don’t want you walking past my crew nearly naked. Besides, Piper Med will do a thorough exam and will want to preserve those... that ra... um... dress.”

Closing her eyes, Jade took a deep breath and tried to find a shred of courage or dignity somewhere deep down inside of her. “Thank you.” She took a moment to readjust the way the blanket was wrapped around her, then nodded at Darwin. “Alright. I’m ready...” she started to say, then looked past him to the living room. “Are they still out there?”

“Unlikely. Ganesh would have had them taken to the Brig. Any idea where Suresh is today? He’s who we’re really after.”

“No, he...he wouldn’t have shared his plans with me,” she confided. “Though he spent a lot of time with an Orion woman named Seyla. They seemed to have some sort of close relationship.”

If the statement bothered Darwin (it did), Darwin did a good job of not showing that it did. Instead, he lightly touched Jade’s elbow and gestured to the doorway. “I’ll have one of my crew escort you to Piper.”

Moving forward at the light touch, she clutched the blanket to keep it in place. “Alright.” Jade bit her lip, then spoke again. “You know...that’s the second time those two goons attacked me, though the first time they knew Suresh was around. The Cardassian and his ‘friend’ might know more about where he is. He said something about him leaving me behind.” It really wasn’t much to go on, but perhaps Lt. Darwin could get the truth out of them.

“That’s good to know, Jade,” Darwin’s dark eyes looked her over, making certain the blanket covered what needed to be covered as they passed into Suresh’s living room and out to the corridor. “Carter, take Jade to Piper Medical and have Doc Harding’s team treat her. Don’t leave her alone and notify me when she’s done there. You might need to contact Lieutenant Tigan to get someone from engineering or ops to get that collar off, too.” Dar was speaking to a young ensign, but looking at Jade.

“Yessir,” Carter nodded and waited a moment.

“I’m sure I’ll see you later, Miss,” Darwin said then turned away as Ganesh called his name from inside Suresh’s quarters.

“Thank you, Lt. Darwin.” Jade’s gaze lingered on Darwin a moment longer, then she looked at the young man waiting for her. “I’m ready to go now.”

*****************

Jade
Damsel

Michael Darwin
Knight in Shining Armor