Silence Speaks A Thousand Words

Posted on Thu Jan 31st, 2013 @ 6:31pm by Lieutenant Commander Leto & Lieutenant Nick Marcinko

Mission: The Struggle Within
Location: Veist's Shuttle

Shuttle 225 - Type 8 Shuttlecraft

Nick had blown the doors off of the other vessels in the shuttlebay as he jumped quickly out of the station and after the signal that he was receiving from Leto’s transmitter. It was about thirty minutes ahead of him but if he pushed the shuttle he could catch up and, hopefully, rescue Leto without any harm. He couldn’t promise the same thing for Zoudin.

As he screamed through space he ran a quick diagnostic on all of the systems, especially the weapons and the transporter pad. He wasn’t very happy to find that there were no micro-torpedos installed on this shuttle but it did have phasers, and they were pretty damn powerful for a shuttle this size. He’d heard of type 8’s taking out Kazon ships when Voyager was on her own out in the Delta Quadrant. But he had to play it cool. Punching Veist’s craft too hard could kill both people inside and he definitely didn’t want that to happen. But after checking everything out, he was satisfied with what he had at his control and started formulating a plan, a backup plan and a last ditch effort in case things went south quickly.

Twenty minutes later he was able to get Veist’s shuttle on visual and began passive scans to see what he was up against. It was small, smaller than Nick’s shuttle, but it was agile and had decent weaponry on board. Not much by way of shields but he’d have a hard time hitting it effectively if Veist was on his game. He sent a coded message to Patrick to let him know of his current position and began putting his plan into effect.

* * *

Zoudin hadn’t done much talking since they’d left almost an hour ago but he felt he owed it to Imara to tell her what was going on. He actually felt love for this woman that he’d only met a few days prior and, despite his training, he felt that to have any sort of relationship with her he’d have to fill her in on what was really going on.

He put the shuttle on autopilot and walked back to her. Kneeling beside her, he took her hand and kissed it. “Don’t be afraid, Imara, please. I’m not going to hurt you. I couldn’t if I tried.” He closed his eyes briefly for already lying to her. While the drug he’d given her had paralyzed her, it hadn’t hurt her, but someone that you love doesn’t do that to you. “Okay, I’m sorry. I guess I have already hurt you with this drug I gave you, but you’re not hurt at all and it will wear off in about ten more minutes--I apologize, but I don’t have an antidote for it.”

Her eyes saddened him. She was scared, worried, and he could even tell it in her mind. “You know that I work for Aegina, but I’m not just her aide.” He inhaled deeply and blew it out, nervous about what he was about to say. “I’ve never told anyone this, and I’m afraid that if I tell you...well, I’m concerned that you wouldn’t want anything to do with me after. But despite that, I can’t start a relationship on a lie and being able to hide things from you would hurt me, and you in the long run, so, reluctantly, I feel that this is the only way.”

There was a moment’s silence before he spoke. He gently searched her mind and found not only confusion but curiosity. “Okay, here goes...I’m, well, I guess the best way to say it is that I’m a mercenary, an assassin. A bad guy, for lack of a better word. Hell, I’m not even Archadian! Do you know what a Betazoid is? No, of course not. Never mind. But Aegina hired me for one purpose and that was to do her dirty work. And, honey, I’m good at what I do. But I’ve never once felt for someone the way that I feel for you. I...” He almost couldn’t bring himself to say it, but he had to. “I love you, Imara, and I can’t bring you into my life unaware of what I do. I can keep you safe, I can make it so that you never know what I’m actually doing or I can tell you everything, but either way I want you in my life.”

He waited and noticed her finger twitch. “Oh, thank goodness! You’re coming out of it. Of course, if you want to smack me when you’re completely out of it I would understand.” He frowned and sat down at her feet.

Feeling was, indeed, returning to her body and the first thing she did was blink to ease her eyes. His words came as no surprise to her. She’d suspected that he was far more than just an assistant when the hunter appeared at his house intending to kill him or her or both of them. What had surprised her, however, was his declaration of love. He was right about one thing, however, and as sensation finally returned fully, she sat up, met his gaze, then took a swing. Her palm connected solidly to his cheek.

His face was on fire but he sat still and took it. “I deserved that,” he said and waited patiently, fully expecting another. “But I had to get you out of harm’s way. That woman, the one that tried to kill us, she was sent by Aegina. I had to get you away from the planet and out of her reach. The drug was just to make things easier for me in getting us away. If I’d had to explain everything we may not have gotten away as quickly and, considering the circumstances, I’m sure you would have had a ton of questio--”

Another hard slap rung his bell as she connected, and hard. “Keep talking,” she ordered.

“Now that you’re safe, you are free to do whatever you desire, Imara,” he said. “When I gave you that arrow, whether I was Archadian or not, I meant what it represented and more. In the past I would have simply killed someone that could have been a liability, but not you. I want you. I need you. I’ve got out on a limb here telling you who and what I am. I wouldn’t do that for anyone unless I had hope of something strong, something committed. And from here on out I will tell you everything, unless you wish not to know.”

She considered his words and finally nodded. “Alright. And yes, I need to know if I am to help cover for you. What of this man, the Queen’s aide that you mentioned?”

“Moren,” he said. “Pentias Moren. More like the Queen’s whipping boy, but he’s at her beck and call. Aegina ordered him killed and I was the triggerman. We needed a way to stop the trail from leading to Aegina and his death would do exactly that.”

She reached out and touched his cheek. “What trail my darling?”

“It’s quite a long story, but the short and sweet is that a rogue group from that Starfleet base was trying to get their own people kicked out of the area so they could control access into the Delta Quadrant. Aegina was heavily involved in hopes of moving up to the Queen’s spot, some people were killed, she had me doing all kinds of things to get her to the top position. But if we could plant evidence that Moren was involved it would get Aegina in the clear and, potentially, involve the Queen so that she’d be removed.” He shrugged. “That’s about it.”

“And while she holds the real power now, as Queen she could dissolve the PM’s office and take complete control.” Leto nodded. “I see.”

“Yeah, something like that,” he said, “but I don’t care. I’m only here to do a job and then move on. And I can move on to wherever you want. I’m not really involved with the government, I’m a puppet, a background guy. I have--had, a job and that was it. But it appears that Aegina can’t be satisfied with me having a normal life. And I will not be satisfied until I know you are safe...and Aegina is dead for what she tried to do to you, to us.”

“So you want to go back to settle the score?”

He scooted closer to her and took her hands again. “Imara, she wouldn’t have batted an eye if that woman had killed you and I both! I can’t allow someone that would have you dead still out there looking for you.” Kissing her hand again he continued. “I wouldn’t go back soon, though. I have to get you to safety, find us a place to lay low, make sure you’re comfortable and happy--most importantly of all, happy, and then...then I would go back and have my revenge.”

“Ozum is the closest, is it not?” She raised his hands to her lips. “Unless you request asylum on SB900. Either would give us protection and time to make our plans for whatever is to come, Zoudin.”

“No, not 900. Nothing Federation,” he said, stiffening a bit. “Ozum for now but there are all kinds of places we could go to live in luxury where no one would ever find us. But if we’re together on this then I guess I should have your input on it. We’re a team now--at least, I hope.”

She nodded. “Yes. And It’s a good first stop. After that, we can go anywhere. But getting out of space is a good idea, we’re too easy to track.” A gentle smile curved her lips now and she leaned in for a kiss. “It will all work out.”

He was immensely relieved at her words and enjoyed her kiss. “I had hoped you would say that.”

As they kissed again the panel beeped twice. Something needed Zoudin’s attention. Placing his palm on her cheek for second he finally stood and attended to the ship.

In shuttle 225 Nick scanned the interior of Zoudin’s shuttle. The phasers had already been powered up and he targeted the engines with fifty percent power. He fired twice to the same engine and took it out.

The shuttle rocked as one engine went out, proving her words true. Raising her voice to be heard over the engine alarm, she asked, “What’s the closest landfall?” Looking up and pressing the control panel, the brough a visual of the shuttle that had fired on them into focus. “Federation shuttle, Zoudin. Why?”

He was furiously tapping at the controls to get the shuttle under control. Shields were at eighty percent, his weapons were coming online and he still had one good engine to run with. “I don’t know, Imara,” he said. “It could be someone from that group that Aegina was working with, Section 31, coming after us. Or, I guess it could be someone legitimate from 900 coming after us. Aegina could have warned them that I absconded with a citizen and they are providing assistance at an official request of the Archadian government. Either way, we need to get the hell out of here and fast.”

Pulling the shuttle into a nose dive and a spin to starboard he continued to keep the other shuttle from getting a good lock on them. He truly didn’t know who was in that shuttle but he wasn’t going to stick around to find out.

“Time to intercept, five minutes at this rate,” she announced. “I can get you a bit more to the shields, however. Just go!”

Nick continued to follow the shuttle move for move. He wasn’t about to let Leto go, not now, even after what he’d gone through. Two more shots from the phasers, both missed but he was getting more response from his shuttle than Zoudin was from his. That missing engine really did a number on his agility. He programmed three more shots, two of which hit home. The shields were going down slowly. In preparation he fired up the transporter and got it set to a location in the rear of the shuttle, hoping no one would be back there.

On a whim he opened a comm link. “Manatee!” he yelled. “Leto? Are you there?”

Fuck. Manatee wasn’t it. What the hell was that damn word? “Marlin! Mink! Goddammit, Leto, if you’re there you need to let me know!”

“Incoming!” she yelled, both about the weapons fire and the comm. The words made no sense at the moment. “Who the hell does he think you are?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care. We just have to get,” another phaser strike shook the small shuttle, “out of here before he kills us both. He must have been sent by Aegina to kill us. If he were from 900 I don’t think they would resort to just shooting at us without the benefit of talking to us first.”

“Computer,” Nick said as he remembered that it was an Earth animal he’d been told about, “pull up all animals from Earth starting with the letter M and begin playing over an open channel to that shuttle.”

As the computer began reading, too slow for Nick’s tastes, he yelled, “Speed it up!”

His last hit took their shields down to twenty four percent. He needed them down before he could beam over. Another program of six phaser blasts shot out, targeting the shields to bring them crashing down.

“Shields down!” Leto yelled. “Nothing I can do for them.” The computer’s droning over the comm was distracting and she closed the channel. “Weirdo. How’re you doing up there?”

A cold feeling covered Zoudin as she told him that shields had gone down. He fully expected to feel the effects of a transporter soon. “We need those shields back up before he can beam us out!”

Nick looked at the readout. Their shields were down. “Computer, keep this distance from the shuttle and keep an open comm link with my communicator. Expect verbal commands from me.” He stood and grabbed a phaser and felt for his knife. Once happy with his armament he stood on the transporter pad. “Computer, begin transport to pre-designated coordinates.”

Within seconds nick found himself staring at the back of Zoudin and Leto’s heads. He’d looked at the list of animal names and, as he levelled his phaser at Veist he shouted, “Mouse!” and waited for a response from Leto. What he got wasn’t what he’d hoped for.

They had lowered the effects of the inertial dampeners and made a hard turn to port throwing Nick against the bulkhead. “Shit!” he yelled as he landed face-first against a cabinet for medical supplies. The ship lurched the other direction and he toppled across the walkway into the other side of the ship, dropping his phaser. “Fucking mud puppy!? Mussel?” he said as he managed to get himself upright as Veist came at him.

The two began fighting immediately with Zoudin punching Nick squarely in the jaw. Unfortunately for him, even a half-Klingon jaw was much more dense than he was prepared for and his fingers cracked under the pressure. “Mosquito!” Nick bellowed as he kneed Zoudin in the thigh and followed up with a hard punch to the solar plexus and an elbow to the chin, knocking him backward several feet. “Monkey!”

“What the hell are you doing?” Zoudin spat. “What is all of that nonsense? Don’t you speak like a regular person?”

He dodged a tackle from Nick sending him into an extra chair head first. Grabbing his leg, he pulled Nick backward and twisted his ankle and punched his knee, finally hearing a crunch that he’d hoped for. Nick pulled his other leg back and kicked Zoudin across the shuttle and tried to stand. His knee buckled a moment but he got his strength but stumbled forward.

Pain seared down his back as a foot made contact with his spine. Leto. “Zoudin? Are you alright?”

“I will be, dear,” he said. “Just give me a moment to finish off this idiot.”

“Millipede!” Nick said as he shot a glance at Leto, who reacted to him like he was some deranged lunatic. “Nothing? Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he said as he turned his attention back to Zoudin who had picked up a long spanner and was coming at him. He ducked under the swing and tackled Veist, both falling to the floor.

“Muskrat!” he yelled as he began throwing fists as quickly as he could at Zoudin, who was straddling his chest and doing the same. He wanted to get to his knife but it was in the back of his pants, unaccessible at the moment. But he turned his head to the right and saw his phaser lying there. Grabbing it, he used it as a distraction to which Zoudin focused on and leaned toward that arm, giving Nick what he needed to get the man off of him but dislodging the phaser.

The phaser went across the floor, landing right at Leto’s feet. “Mollusk!” he shouted once more as Zoudin began to get up and Nick pulled the knife from its hiding place. He saw Leto pick up the phaser and look at the controls. He couldn’t take the chance that she would take him out before he killed Zoudin.

With a quick motion he sank the knife into Veist’s ribcage just as a phaser shot struck out and hit Veist square in the chest. Turning quickly, he saw Leto still pointing the phaser where she’d fired.

“Holy shit, what the hell took you so long!?” Nick asked as Zoudin fell in a crumpled heap to his side. With an additional kick to the face, Nick stood and looked at her. “You are Leto again, right?”

Leto nodded slowly, her gaze still locked on Veist. Finally, she lowered her arm, moving as if lost in a dream.

“Yes.”

Nick rushed her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. “Oh, man...I didn’t think I was ever going to remember that damn animal’s name!” He pulled back from her and looked her over. “Are you hurt? You okay?” He was turning her head every which way, feeling down her arms and checking her pupillary response.

“No, I’m not hurt. He wouldn’t have harmed me, hard as that may be for you to believe.” She spoke slow, her voice subdued.

It was then that he remembered what had been going on and recoiled from her, as if she were some sort of poison. Yelling, he began kicking Zoudin’s lifeless body until he felt Leto’s arm on his. Jerking away from her he went to the back of the shuttle. “We need to get out of here. We can probably tow this shuttle back to 900, or you can fly it back with your boyfriend if you want.” He shrugged. “Whatever you want to do.”

“He’s not that and you know it!” She glared at Nick then moved over to the comm panel. “I have a call to make.” And as he listened, she opened a channel, informed them she was with 900 Intel and demanded to be put through to the Queen immediately.

“Could have fooled me,” he mumbled to himself. He tapped his communicator. “Shuttle 225, acknowledge. Close within thirty meters of this location and prepare the transporter pad. Wait for my word.”

Acknowledged came the shuttle computer’s reply.

She informed the Queen they would be arriving on the planet just as soon as they could get back there and that it was an emergency, then closed the channel. “We have to get to Archadia immediately. Where’s Patrick?”

“Who knows? Who cares...” he said, turning to face her again. “I did tell him where I was, though, so he’ll probably get here soon and lay his thing down.”

“Good. We’ll hold position till he arrives, then haul ass. Things are about to get interesting, Nicky. In a big way.” She looked him up and down, her expression unreadable. “Once this is done, then you and I are going to work this out.”

He didn’t want to yell, he didn’t want to argue. He simply couldn’t be here with her and with him. He slapped his comm badge. “Shuttle 225, lock onto my signal and transport. Now.”

The transport effect took hold of him and he was gone as quickly as he had arrived. When he got to his own shuttle he walked to the pilot’s seat and sunk into the chair, his shoulders sagging and his head hanging. He hurt, physically. Zoudin could really pack a punch. But what had happened between Leto and Zoudin hurt even more.

Back on the other shuttle, Leto moved over to Veist’s prone form and knelt down beside him. She sat, silent, looking at him for what seemed an age. Finally, she reached down and gently closed his eyes. Whispered words fell from her lips, the Archadian death chant. Finally, done, she rose and moved to the pilot’s seat and opened a channel to Nick.

“As soon as Patrick’s in range, we get back to Archadia. I can fill you two in on the way.”

Without a word Nick switched off the comms. “Computer, notify me again before allowing communications to come through. I’ll choose who I want to talk to, thank you veryfuckingmuch!”

Leto rubbed her eyes and sat back in the seat to wait. It was going to be a very long night.

____________

Zoudin Veist
Died in Vain?

MCPO Nick Marcinko
Saving the day, but for what?

Lt.(jg) Leto
Ending the danger, at what cost?