"The Other Side Of Intel"
[Previous post: 'Dates and Delta Quadrant Strangers', written by Matt Kelly, someone we have dearly missed over the last little while]
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Stardate: 60320.2330
Setting: TANGIERS ORBITAL, 7th Floor, Corridor
Lea sat in a chair, her head spinning from the alcohol she had earlier ingested. Had Lea been aware of her situation she might have tried to get up. She would have certainly tried to escape from the occupant of this room. Had Lea been aware of her predicament, she would have found herself unable to do anything. The reason for this being that she was tied to the chair she sat in. So in a way it was lucky for the undercover SFI operative that she was *out of it*.
Occasional moans came from Lea who felt as if her head had been three sizes too
small for her brain. That combined with the turning of her stomach made her feel truly uncomfortable. Not being able to rest her head on something other than her shoulder had not helped matters any.
T'Preel had tried a couple of times to get answers out of the Halanan woman but
to no avail. With his connections inside the TANGIERS ORBITAL, the Romulan had
learned all that he could about the woman. She was the widowed wife of a
Halanan diplomat with a fair deal of credits at her name. She had made
reservations for one and had arrived on a transport alone. That information did not help T'Preel though as it failed to answer one crucial question. What was her link to the AVALON? She was not in Starfleet, nor had her transport come anywhere close to the ship in question. So why had she mumbled its name?
If T'Preel had for one moment believed that tightening the ropes would have
helped squeeze the information out of Halanan, he would have done so without
hesitation. Lea, being unaware of her situation was lucky in her ignorance of
the Romulan's cruelty. Out on the gambling floor T'Preel was almost a charmer,
but in private he could only be described as one thing, a demon. The
resemblance to the mythological creature was only a hint to the bloodlust that
resided within the Romulan. T'Preel enjoyed destroying the lives of others, and this was all too apparent in his smile. Lea was lucky to not have been aware of the man and his smile which would have frozen the blood in her veins.
Lea sat on the chair she was tied to, ignorant of how close the blade in the
hand of the Romulan had come to her flesh. Torturing someone was entertaining
only when the victim knew of, and responded to, the danger. The Halanan woman
could not know the good fortune she had at that precise moment. If T'Preel had
his way, he would discover what link the woman had with the AVALON before
sending her to rejoin with her husband. Maybe Brendil Nanuska was an SFI agent, but T'Preel doubted it. No agent would allow themselves to become so
intoxicated as to be such an easy prey. He would have to insure that no one
would miss the woman before disposing of her. Then, and only then would he be
able to give in to his darker desires.
The Romulan was certain that the Halanan knew something about the AVALON, and he would discover this in time. Nothing would stand in the way of his quest that would see the head of that ship's CO resting on his desk. Patience would be the key to uncovering the link between Brendil Nanuska and the AVALON. In time T'Preel would get what he wanted more than life itself. He would get the answer to all of his questions, and most important he would get his revenge.
Lea, still moaning due to the alcohol induced headache, sat tied to the chair
unaware of just how little patience T'Preel had. Had Susan been in the room,
the Cns would have been able to see this within seconds. The pacing of the
Romulan and the way he toyed with the unconscious woman were all hints of the
deranged mind that resided within. To say that T'Preel was unstable would have
been an understatement. To say that Lea was in grave danger of losing her life
would have been nothing short of the absolute truth. Luckily, Lea did not know
this, at least not yet.
If the undercover SFI operative had any luck on her side she would be spared the agony of a lengthy death. Unfortunately the random fluctuations in the universe that shaped chance seemed to have been set against her from the start. From being captured and tortured on some forsaken planet, Lea had arrived here. Captured and facing the unpleasant prospect of torture once again. Life it seemed enjoyed playing cruel games with her, leaving Lea's life in the balance. On one side of this balance was the maniacs of this universe while on the other stood those who where her shipmates. Some of them she considered as friends, and one she hoped to one day be able to call more. All of this of course pending the outcome of these latest complications.
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Ensign Lea Summers 2005 post #177
Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Chief Medical Officer
USS ANUBIS
