"The Calm Before The Storm"
Previous Post: "Traitors In Our Midst" by Tiffany
-=/\=-
Stardate: 60299.0019
Setting: NEW ALEXANDRIA - SECTION I - Debriefing Room
The room was cold, much colder than she remembered it should be. Or perhaps she was getting weaker. She had caved, twice in the last year, to her more debilitating emotions, once to find and reclaim her place at Sabrina's side, and now this. If she had been anyone less than she was, such things would have been expected and punished severely. Koneki had let her get away with retraining and a demotion when she had gone after Sabrina, two things he knew meant very little to her, yet this time she had caused him to question her loyalties, and *that* could not go unpunished.
She stood, for now, while her legs worked beneath her, knowing all too well that very soon she would be sedated, and for the duration of her primary debriefing, which could last several hours, or even days, forced to lay on the stainless steel counter behind her. Shivering slightly and allowing her teeth to chatter, she roughly rubbed her arms in an effort to keep warm. In these rooms there was no pretence, no point in acting strong, she knew from experience that in a few days she'd be beyond such defiance anyway. No amount of training to cope with such situations could help her in here, these people had spent *years* developing techniques specifically for use on her, they knew which tender spots to touch, which situations to confront her with, and were she not to cooperate with them, these people currently held within their grasp, her wife and child as leverage.
They would give her hallucinogens, she remembered that vividly from the last time, force her mind to act out it's deepest thoughts, desires and fears. It was during this time she would be at her most vulnerable, unable to remember where she was or what had happened to her, she would believe in the creations of her mind and she would interact, unknowingly, with them, possibly sealing her fate with every word.
Oh, there were more effective, more fearsome tortures within the universe, several to which she herself had been victim and managed to endure… but for the most part, the deprogramming methods Starfleet Intelligence, meant to debrief the most inaccessible recesses of a level 5 field agent's mind, were the most insidious. The final days would be the worst, resting in comfort, left to heal both the physical and mental wounds inflicted during her time in this room. Waiting, while every second she had spent being debriefed was analysed, waiting while someone in a sterile room who had never spoken to her or seen her face to face, decided whether she was compromised or whether she could be trusted to return to duty. She knew that she would not reveal direct information no matter the strain she was put under, yet that in some ways made it worse… to have someone make a decision based solely on their own inferred beliefs was much more dangerous. She did not know what happened to those with clearance as high as she had if they were deemed a threat to the Federation, and she did not relish finding out. She knew a simple mind wipe would not be sufficient to ensure the safety of SFI's most protected secrets, and she doubted "a horrible accident" was beyond their capabilities when it came down to it.
Closing her eyes for a last serene moment before the door to her chamber began to open, Enaii allowed a picture of Talia to form in her mind, she could smell her silky hair and feel the softness of her cheek, one last moment of peace, the calm before the storm.
-=/\=-
Lisa Mac Isaac {lisa_mac_isaac@hotmail.com}
Writing the hopes, dreams and future of:
Lieutenant Commander Enaii - Intelligence Liaison Officer
USS ANUBIS
And if you see no reason for giving thanks, rest assured that the fault is in yourself.
~~Chief Tecumseh 1813
2005 post #037
