Dark Shores Part III
Posted on Wed Dec 28th, 2022 @ 3:36am by Staff Sergeant Shayla Kunadt & Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren & Lieutenant Junior Grade Mignon Mejia & Senior Chief Petty Officer Sha’Zen D'Tem
Edited on on Wed Dec 28th, 2022 @ 10:12am
1,694 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Episode 13 - Crooked River
Location: Romulan Encampment - Planet Igion
Timeline: MD005 0245 hrs
Shayla heard the doors open and saw the tall lanky shadow of the Romulan enter. She tensed her muscles and readied herself to run or lunge or something. Just when she saw the face of Cortana and was about to go for it the most intense pain awoke in her head. It came from the base of her skull and radiated throughout her body. All she wanted to do was tear her own head off to stop the pain. She cried out and dropped to her knees her hands on her temples. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as her vision began to pulse with the pain. She spoke through gritted teeth. "You can't do this... Your day will come." Shayla lunged forward with what was left of her energy and fell on her face as her field of vision went black.
Sha'Zen sprang from the shadows as the Romulan entered. Even unarmed SerNumi were fierce opponents, but as he closed on her target , she was wracked with intense pain. Her skin changed threw many shades as she fought to stay conscious, but eventually she succumbed to the darkness of unconsciousness.
Alyssa found something she thought she could use, but just as she reached for it, the door opened. A moment later, she was brought to her knees by a pain greater than anything she'd experienced so far. She fought to stay conscious, to stay aware of her surroundings, but the pain made it hard to think.
Mignon had not fully recovered from the first attack. When the pain hit, she crumpled to the ground, her mind unable to cope.
The first thing that Shayla became aware of was that her hands were bound. The second was that her feet were bound and she was unable to speak. She knew that she was not gagged and yet when she tried to speak no sound would come from her throat. Before she investigated that any further, she looked around to take stock of what was around her. She seemed to be sitting in a room with four pools of light. In each light was a member of the team. First herself, then to her left was Commander Maren, then Ensign Mejia, and finally Chief D'Tem. The other ladies were still out cold. Although the Marine could not see anything else she could hear whispers of what sounded like people evaluating the four Starfleet Officers.
Alyssa felt fuzzy-headed and her mouth was dry. She slowly became aware of people talking. Remembering the Romulan's reaction to her use of telepathy, she wanted to know who was here before doing anything, so she listened to find out what she could.
Shayla could see that her hands and feet were bound with enough chain to give her about a foot of movement. The same could be said for the other ladies. There was a tray of medical tools including a bone saw that was just within her reach. Although for the life of her Shayla could not find the rationale that their captors would leave the tools within reach. A weapon, is a weapon and they better not get within reach. she thought.
Sha'Zen awoke. Seeing her chains, her skin turned a deep shade of red. She was enraged. She bared her canines and tried to growl, but her mouth was too dry to make a sound. The drug was corroding her long established professional detachment. She wanted to kill the Romulan female. Several images of how to accomplish that goal flashed through her mind. Each ended with the Romulan's dead body lying on the deck and herself caked in her opponent's green blood.
Alyssa was keenly aware of Sha'Zen's anger. It was so strong it was almost palpable. But she didn't know her, or Shayla, well enough to know if she could communicate with them telepathically. She also wasn't sure that losing control like that would help. Right now, she wasn't sure of anything--except that they needed to get out of here. "Mignon?" She could feel that the Betazoid was conscious. Like her, she was trying to listen before doing anything.
"Not the way I'd choose to spend my day."
Alyssa sent a mental image of herself chuckling. "Me, either. See if you can pick up what they want from us and how we can get away. They're aware we're both telepaths, but I'm hoping we can catch...something."
The Chief Science Officer opened her eyes and looked around. Why were there medical supplies here? They were deliberately set where they could be seen but not accessed. Was this for their experiments? She continued to do a visual scan, noting the door. She doubted they'd be able to get to it and if they could, it was likely locked. Okay. She'd leave the physical attempts to get away to Shayla and Sha'Zen. She and Mignon would try something else.
"You think it'll work?" Mignon asked telepathically. "You were blocked pretty hard when you tried to read the Romulan."
"This time, we're going to see how far we can send a mental shout if we work together to boost our individual telepathy." Granted, it would depend on whether or not there was a telepath from the ship within range, but it was worth a try. At least she thought so.
Mignon didn't respond, but Alyssa felt the mental connection. She closed her eyes to focus, then felt Mignon use their combined telepathy as a gestalt to send a mental shout for help.
Cortana watched the captives from the observation lounge on the other side of the glass. Pretty soon one or all of them would begin to look toward cutting off a limb. They always did, and this should go no different. The Romulan knew that if this test, this final test worked they would be able to launch the attack as scheduled. "You may use the tools within your reach to assist in the release that you need. There is no need to wait for instructions or anything else."
Shayla could feel an awkward sensation that creeped up her leg. It started from her foot and shot upward. At first, she thought it was a pain however, it felt more like something was there that should not be. She began to remove her boot for a visual inspection. Her willpower pushed the thoughts that intruded into her brain away. The thoughts that she should remove the invading tissue.
Sha'Zen thought she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to look into the shadows to her right. A dark mass began to move towards her. She heard the tell-tale ticks and clicks of a Wil-Zak, a venomous creature native to her world. A kind of amalgamation of a Terran scorpion and a Terran spider, but the size of a Terran house cat. They stalked the northern forests of Twilight Isles. Part of her mind told her that the Wil-Zak was not here and that she was experiencing a drug induced hallucination, but another part insisted that it was here and that she better arm herself. She grabbed the surgical tools and brandished them as weapons, as the creature approached.
Because of Alyssa's intense concentration, she felt the emotions of both Shayla and Sha'Zen. The strength of them reverberated through her head and she had to concentrate to raise her mental shields and block them. As she did, she caught the growing panic coming from Mignon and sent her a tightly-focused message. "I don't know what it is, but I think it's part of whatever experiment they're doing. We have to fight it." Her foot began to tingle. She mentally recited the periodic table of elements, then she listed the major worlds of the Federation and their primary cultures, doing everything she could to keep her focus tight.
Mignon heard Alyssa, but she sounded like she was talking from a long way away. It didn't really matter, did it? She wasn't sure why she was even here. She wasn't a fighter, and there was no reason to have two archaeologists. Fathom should have been here instead of her, especially as the limbs washed up on shore. Her left foot began to itch. She reached down to scratch it, which only made it itch more. At the same time, it felt good to scratch.
Cortana could see that the drugs had their desired effect. However, she thought she may be able to speed up the process. She activated the overhead speaker system. This was a very old piece of technology, and as such the voice that emerged crackled and sounded tinny. "Now that you are settled allow me to tell you what we have done to you. We are testing methods of transplant for certain body parts. To that end we have attached foreign body parts to you. I am sure you can sense them. These parts may help or they may hinder you. However, you have the ability to remove them. You may cut the limb and remove it as one would remove a torn piece of clothing." The Romulan believed that this goading would push the officers over the edge and right into where they need to be.
A Joint Post By
Sergeant Shayla Kunadt
EVAC Specialist HQ, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Chief Petty Officer Sha’Zen D'Tem
Biologist, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren
Chief Science Officer, USS Pioneer
Ensign Mignon Mejia
Alien Archaeologist/Anthropologist, USS Pioneer
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