"Not Even Bread And Water"
[Previous post: 'Missing Pieces', written by the simply wonderful Serena Switt]
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Stardate: 60321.0900
Setting: TANGIERS ORBITAL, unknown room
The breakfast invitation sat on the floor leaning again the door of the
room, untouched. The reason for this being that Lea had not returned
to her room the night before. Now that her head had cleared, Lea wished
that she had stayed in her room, or be anywhere else than here.
When Lea woke up, she found herself tightly bound to a chair. The
ropes around her wrists and ankles were so tight that her extremities felt
cold. Whoever had done this to Brendil Nanuska had not wanted her to
even think about escaping, but why? Why would someone want to hold a
Halanan widow captive? Whatever money available for a ransom was in the
woman's possession, so theft would have been easier. So why take an
innocent woman captive? Were they planning on torturing her or worst
abusing her in some unspeakable manner? Even if this was what they wanted
to do, it still didn't answer the why, and that was the question on
Lea's mind.
"Little girls should never drink," someone said in a demeaning voice.
Lea could not see who had spoken since he had been standing directly
behind her. All attempts to turn her head to see the person resulted in
pain shooting up her arms. The bounds tying her to the chair had been
made so tight that just the thought of moving was enough to trigger
pain.
"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Lea pleaded. Acting as a
distressed woman who knew nothing about what had happened to her had been
easy. The reason for that having been that it was the truth. Looking
at the room Lea knew that she was still onboard the TANGIERS ORBITAL,
but that was the extent of her knowledge.
"I will ask the questions," the man replied. His voice was as cold as
ice, without an ounce of emotion in it. Whoever this person was, he
was not there for fun, or there because he held a grudge. From what
little Lea had heard from him, the SFI agent could only guess that he was a
professional. His staying out of sight only adding credibility to the
idea that Lea had begun for formulate. She was being held against her
will for a reason, and the man was simply doing his job. "Tell me
about yourself," he said as if a normal conversation with a friend.
Lea had just been about to answer with her true identity before
thinking of the mistake she had been about to make. Saying that she was a
Starfleet Ensign would certainly not help her in anyway. "I am Brendil
Nanuska, widowed wife of Wengrel Nanuska, a once well respected and even
adored Halanan diplomat. He was the last member of his family, so if
you are hoping to get a ransom, you will be very disappointed. As for
my family, they have nothing that would be of any worth to you."
"A diplomat? Yes, of course. Did he ever serve on a Federation
vessel?"
The question made Lea think. Being a diplomat for a world belonging to
the Federation did not equate them being on a ship. Many, if not the
greater majority, of diplomats worked on planets or orbiting stations.
This did not mean that they could not travel using Federation ships,
but the question had clearly stated *served*. This implied that the man,
or whoever he had been working for, wanted to know about Wengrel.
Although this partially answered the why Lea was being held captive, it
only opened up new questions.
"Why do you want to know about where he worked?" Lea demanded,
inwardly glad that the focus of the interrogation had shifted away from her.
"We simply need to know. Now answer the question," the unknown man
said in a commanding voice.
Lea felt a shiver shoot up her spine as the man's voice reached her
ears. The way he had told her to answer the question implied severe
consequences if she did not.
"No," Lea replied now fearing for her life. "He never served on a
Federation ship. He spent the greater majority of his time traveling
between cities."
"That's too bad, for you," the man said in such a way that caused Lea's
blood to freeze in her veins. Apparently that had been the wrong
answer, but that had been the only one Lea could have given. As tightly
tied to the chair as she was, Lea tried to break free. Instead of
achieving her goal, her struggle only caused her more pain. As the pain
subsided, a strange warmth spread over her hands, a feeling she recognised
as being that of blood flowing over her skin.
Holding back her tears, or at least trying to, Lea glanced at the door
and hoped to see someone come to her rescue before it was too late.
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Ensign Lea Summers 2005 post #184
Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Chief Medical Officer
USS ANUBIS
