The More Things Change (Part Two)

Posted on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 @ 4:02am by Lieutenant JG Drew O'Connell & Lieutenant Commander Kaylis Kirana

2,353 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Behind the Mask of Familiarity
Location: Targus Minor
Timeline: Two Weeks and Five Days Ago

Drew watched with rapt attention as the shuttle dropped out of warp just upon entering the Targus system. Already he could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. Standing in the back of the shuttle, Drew opened the file on the Targans and accessed the classified data. The highly xenophobic Targans were out on a vendetta with the Federation for a previous duckblind mission studying pre-warp capable species at the time of warp breakthrough. Unfortunately, the Targans accidentally discovered the Starfleet outpost and were set back decades, perhaps centuries.

The Targans had become reclusive instantly. Their warp studies were discontinued as they contemplated the fact that they were not the only species in the vastness of space. Every Intelligence Op thereafter had been uncovered by the Targan's in-depth physiology scanning required of every Targan national every day. They weren't aware of it mostly, but workplaces and markets had been retrofitted with deep medical scanners to uncover the alien threat.

Looking at Cullen, Drew shrugged. "This isn't going to be easy. You'll man the shuttle while I go undercover to find our missing crewmen. You're sure the signal has been deactivated?"

"For nearly twenty-four hours, sir." Cullen looked both relieved at staying on the shuttle and saddened at the loss of the signal the same time.

"You sure you narrowed it to a one mile radius before it was deactivated..." It was not really a question, Drew had already double and triple checked the calculations himself. Still, when Cullen nodded, Drew felt he'd given the kid a prize. He sat in the pilot's seat like a puppy with a bone.

"Alright, I'm taking the holosuit and beaming down. I won't get anywhere looking like this," Drew motioned to himself. What he hadn't mentioned was the biometric damper already built into his belt and the emergency transporter and microphaser among his other toys. Pulling on the heavy suit, Drew zipped the front and pulled the mask over his head, his peripheral vision blocked by the suit's own design. Activating the heads-up-display, he relayed the missing information to the display on his faceplate. Hooking a standard phaser and a spycorder designed to work in the suit's stealth mode to his belt, he nodded at Cullen one last time before ordering, "Energize."

Shalie sat with her back against Devan's. She had been in the Chair as they called it at least 5 times. Each time ending with her waking back up in her cell. Compared to the other sores and injuries they had inflicted the pain in her shoulder seemed full. So far it seemed that she and Devan were getting the brunt of their attention. She seemed a little worse for wear but like Shalie she hadn't cracked. In Shalie's mind she would most likely break long before one of Drew's Intel officers did. She found herself smiling at the thought of the young Lieutenant when the door opened. She watched to see which member of her crew they took next.

With her mind never stopping, Shalie began developing a plan to help them escape with her next trip to the Chair. It wasn't long before the guards came for her. It seemed to be a rotation with Devan and her, alternating between each trip. The youngest guard helped her to her feet and she easily went with him. She decided this was the best time of any to use her one weapon she had. She released her pheromones at full strength. By the time they had reached the torture room, the three guards around her were more following her lead than anything else. She entered the room and her heart sank. Sitting in the chair with a lifeless stare was Delancy, the young crewman that had given away their position.

The emptiness of him took Shalie's breath away. Over the last two days of this ordeal, she had developed an emotional attachment with her four prison mates. Now, to not feel him was like losing a child. She faltered in her seduction of the repulsive species and found herself tied in the chair. She found that with the sorrow she felt, their attempts at breaking her had less effect. It wasn't long before she was released from the chair. She had over heard that Delancy had broken, which was most likely why they had killed him.

As they returned Shalie to her cell, she managed to convince the young guard to loosen the binding on her hands. He lovingly did so, the "charm" was having the desired effect. No sooner had to door closed then Shalie had her hands free. She had been able to palm a small piece of metal and what would be considered a pocket knife.

After multiple attempts, Shalie managed to free herself. The locks were primitive at best from the outside making it easy to free Devan. It didn't take much convincing for Devan to agree to assist Shalie in resetting her arm. It would hurt like hell and she would have limited mobility, but it needed to be done. With a tired scream and tears running down her face the pain changed. "Come on Devan, we need to get to Sarah."

=/= Targus Minor - Outside the Detention Center=/=

Drew pressed himself against the wall just outside the detention center. It was the fourth such place he had visited in as many hours. The first two had no better means of detaining prisoners than a simple lock and key system behind tall ramparts of concrete and barbed wire. He had easily scanned the prisons with his tricorder to ensure his missing crewmates were not inside. The last one had a primitive bio-damper which Drew had easily overcome. The lesson learned had not been in vain as the same protocol to break that damper allowed him to do the same here. His breath caught when he recognized three lifesigns; one human, one Orion hybrid, and a Bajoran. By the underlying code on the distress signal, Drew knew that this particular Bajoran was Devanani Ral, his longtime friend.

Now he just needed to formulate a plan to infiltrate the prison and he had an idea of just how to do that. Sitting back for several minutes, Drew used the tricorder to track particulates in the atmosphere and calculated that guard rotations occurred every six hours. It was another instance where luck seemed to be with him. Spending hours at the other prison complexes had wasted enough time that shift change was near. Drew would have to wait about twenty minutes before the next rotation.

Sitting down on his haunches and way out of the way, Drew used the straw to drink some of the water reserves built into the suit. It would be days before the suit started recycling the fluids. Frank Herbert had inspired that gross but necessary design of the suit. Staring up at the ramparts, Drew could see the spire which served as the outpost for the underground prison complex. It was dark black against the yellow-orange sky. It looked like a bloodstained knife against the fires of Hell.

Drew's ruminations were interrupted by the movement of the guards. They were five minutes early, but he had no intention of complaining. Checking his tricorder, he could tell Shalie was on the move while the other two were stationary. Likely, they had moved her to torture some information from her. She hadn't broken yet, Drew knew she would be dead if she had.

On the move, Drew shadowed the nearest guard as he moved inside from his routine scan of the exterior. Drew knew what the consequences would be for the unknowing guard, but by his measure they had already killed one of his crew. An eye for an eye, he thought.

Stepping through the exterior entrance, the alarm klaxons blared to life. An alien had been discovered in their midst. Drew moved as far inside as he dared as quickly as he could. The other prison guards converged on their comrade, a man they had likely known and even respected for years, with hatred on their faces.

Drew watched in horror as they Targans picked up heavy stones while loping along toward their comrade. When within range, not a single word said, the prison guards started lobbing their makeshift weapons. The unaccused tried to plead for his life, claiming the sensors were wrong. He was quickly silenced as a rock pegged him in his right temple. He fell to the ground unconscious while the others moved in and started kicking him. When it was clear he could take no more, the largest picked up the heaviest stone he could find and crushed the anonymous guard's skull with it.

For a moment, Drew wanted to vomit from the brutality of it all. He had no time for that feeling or even the guilt building inside him. He would deal with the later. He had to move while he had the advantage. Sprinting across the wide, barren space, Drew took the steps up into the spire two at a time. Bolting through the door, Drew hoped and was then relieved to find the Targans never expected any alien to get this far.

Stripping off the bulky holosuit, Drew pulled his phaser and set it to kill. He strapped the tricorder to his wrist and began his journey through the labyrinth. Any Targans he encountered now were casualties of war. One last check informed him Devan and her friends were on the move. Good girls, Drew thought about the half-assed escape attempt.

Moving on an intercept course plotted for speed, Drew raced through the prison. He dropped three Targans dead before rounding the last corner and coming face to face with his cewmates. Shalie and Devanani looked worse for wear. "You look like hell," Drew said aloud.

"Aww you noticed.." Shalie said. She would never admit it to him but she was thankful to see him. Despite being able to escape their cells she knew they had little chance of actually escaping the complex, no matter how primitive.

"So you wanna stand here and share quips or you wanna get the hell out of here?" he asked dryly.

"Lead the way boss.." Shalie answered sarcastically.

Drew nodded as he stepped up to each and affixed a transporter tag. Handing his phaser to Shalie, she appeared best ready to kill if necessary, Drew pulled his own microphaser and reset it to kill. At the look from Shalie, Drew shrugged. "Classified technology. We need to get to the surface to beam out. We're too deep here."

Shalie contemplated saying something, but now was not the time or the place for her and Drew's pissing contest. She wanted to get her crewmates out of here.

Drew motioned in the required direction and took the lead. Devan and the as yet unnamed crewwoman with them took position between him and Shalie who took the rear position. They moved at a sustainable pace for the battered women and both Drew and Shalie killed four more guards.

At nearly the entrance, Drew moved to the exterior door and prepared to kill a few more. His readiness was for naught though because once that far removed from those deadly depths, Cullen was already to lock on with a transporter. With four lifesigns tagged with transporter tags, Cullen had done his last best duty. He beamed them onto the Bishop.

As he materialized, Drew moved forward and took the co-pilot's chair. "Set a heading back to the lifepods, maximum warp. Let's kick this pig." The hostile alien planet shrunk from the forward viewport and Drew didn't relax until the blazing white light of warp altered stars streaked past in it.

Turning in his seat once at a relative safety, Drew said, "We'll do what we can, but your wounds will probably be best tended by a real doctor on whatever starbase we end up on. For now, get some rest. You're safe now."

With a genuine smile of appreciation on her face, Shalie moved towards the back of the shuttle. She needed to check on Sarah who was in shock from all of this. "Sarah....you still with me?" She was answered by a small nod. "Do you know your name?" This time Sarah didn't move or answer. Shalie turned towards Drew " Drew...can you hand me that hyporspray with 25 mg of thorazine....she is going to go catatonic if we don't get her sedated." Shalie knew the extent of what Sarah had endured, and couldn't blame her for wanting to shut it off.

Drew stood from his chair and found the requested drug. He programmed the spray for the required amount. Silently, he handed Shalie the hypo.

Shalie administered the hypospray and slowly positioned Sarah on the floor. She then moved over towards Devan. "Here Devan, let's get that cut tended too." She grabbed some of the balm that was in the med kit. Try as she might her left hand just couldn't grip anything. Her fingers were starting to tingle, letting Shalie know that nerve damage was just around the corner. With just a look Devan reached out and helped Shalie open the container.

Once Devan's laceration was taken care of, Shalie moved behind the seat Drew was sitting in. She rested her head on the bulkhead as she used her right arm to lift her left. She was going to attempt to manipulate her arm.

Drew winced as he heard the thump and crack of Shalie's shoulder being reduced. Unconsciously, Drew stood and pressed a hypospray to the woman's neck. Her face went from surprise to slack ad the pain reliever and sedative took effect. He knew she would hate him in the morning, but she would also feel a lot better.

Drew moved her prone form to the back of the shuttle, laying her gently on the rack. She would be out for hours. It was something, at least. In the interim, Drew was sure rescue would come from Starfleet in the form of a brilliant starship.

 

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