by Alys Landale
“Now, as I was saying, you have information I need. If you won’t tell me what I need to know then perhaps I’ll just have to take it myself.” She nodded to Doctor Rosin.
The man entered a set of commands in the terminal he was working from. He had brought it over from the Imperial ship for just such a reason as this.
Admiral Paris was silent from where he stood in the cell. Tom had been assimilated? He didn’t remember his past? That explained a lot of things Owen had seen in the past day, but he still couldn’t accept what had happened to his son. As he watched the Parvanian adjust the Implant on Tom, he was reminded of his time being tortured by the Cardassians. He had barely been able to get over that. He didn’t want his son to face the same thing.
As these thoughts were running through his mind, he watched Tom’s body suddenly stiffen. Tom’s jaw was clenched shut in pain and his face was a mask of torture. His body seemed to shake from the pain he was undergoing.
Takma began to speak again. “I suppose you’re wondering what that is, Rune.” She waited for an answer but received nothing. Blood slowly began to run down Tom’s temple from where the implant was fixed. She decided to continue. “We use these on all the drones. This is a neural transceiver. What it’s doing basically is working it’s way into your brain. It will attach itself there and after that we should be able to get a few answers.”
After a few more seconds, Tom was able to see again. He only had one eye to look out of now and his vision was blurred from pain. He could feel where the implant had driven itself into his brain. He sat up straighter and focused his attention on the wall behind Takma.
“You can’t get anything from me this way,” he told her. “I’ve got defenses set up to prevent this kind of thing.”
“You’re brain is composed of cybernetics. I could take whatever I wanted from you even if you were dead.” Her voice however didn’t portray the usual confidence she possessed.
“You know full well you can’t do that. Five minutes after I died everything would be erased.”
She frowned at the truth in his words. “I won’t have to worry about that,” she said. She then turned to Rosin. “Start the process.”
Rosin bent over his controls. There was one other unassimilated officer standing beside him. She helped him with his work. Rosin activated the implant.
Paris’s back stiffened as he felt the implant activate. It was like electricity burning through his mind. Despite all the pain, he vowed he wouldn’t let her know anything.
Rosin adjusted his controls. So far it wasn’t working. Takma walked over to him.
“What’s the problem?” she asked.
He fidgeted under her gaze. “He’s resisting it.”
“Then increase the power,” she told him. Honestly, could he not think for himself?
He was about to protest, but did as she asked instead. Paris’s head bent down in pain as fire seemed to take over his mind. His face was covered in pain.
B’Elanna felt her insides being ripped out as she watched her mate being put through this torture. She wanted to cry out and rip Takma’s throat out, but she had promised him she wouldn’t.
Takma was beginning to get impatient. This had to work. “Up the dosage again.” she said.
Rosin looked around nervously but did as he was instructed. A few seconds later, his terminal began to sound an alarm.
Paris’s body shook violently for a second. His head seemed to droop down even further. His breathing began to turn into sharp gasps as his chest rose and fell at uneven intervals. Then he became extremely still.
Takma looked up in surprise. “What happened?” she asked.
Rosin gulped as he looked at the screen. “He...he’s dead.”
B’Elanna’s mouth turned dry as she heard these words. She was barely aware as she began to sink to the ground. Harry put an arm around her. Whatever he said, she didn’t listen. She just kept her eyes fixed on Tom.
Takma grabbed Rosin by his collar. “What do you mean he’s dead?!”
Rosin fumbled for an answer. “The implant somehow activated one of the explosives in his blood. It detonated near one of his lungs.”
Takma was fuming. “Well get over there and fix him. I need him alive you idiot! You heard him before. You have five minutes to revive him or I’ll kill you as well.” She let go of his sleeve and watched as he and his assistant quickly ran over to
Paris.
Rosin took a regenerator and began to run it over Paris’s chest. He needed to seal up the damaged lung. As he looked at the readings, he felt beads of sweat gather on his forehead. Paris had lost almost an entire lung. Now his chest had massive internal bleeding and his second lung was beginning to fill with blood as well.
He tried to close off Paris’s damaged lung. Once that was done, he started working on rerouting the man’s trachea to his good lung only.
He had three minutes left.
The next thing he had to do was remove the blood from his undamaged lung. He instructed his assistant to retrieve him the needed instrument. Pushing Paris’s head back, he inserted a tube down Paris’s throat and began to remove the excess blood.
He had two minutes.
B’Elanna felt her body shuddering with anger. If they didn’t revive Tom, she would kill them with her own two hands. And even if they did, she would still do the same.
Admiral Paris felt the same. Memories of the torture he had endured years ago, floated through his mind. But it had been nothing like this. He felt fury building up inside him at what was happening.
Rosin removed the tube from Paris’ throat. Now all that was left to so was restart Tom’s heart. His assistant handed him a hypospray, which he quickly administered.
He had one minute.
He began to apply a small shock pad to the man’s chest. Hopefully this would get Paris’s heart to working again.
He gave it three tries with still no success. His assistant held a device up to Paris’s mouth to try and restart the man’s breathing.
He had less than one minute.
Takma tapped her foot on the ground. She hated Landis, but she didn’t want him to die this way. She would lose a valuable commodity if he died. And for some reason, she didn’t cherish his death as she thought she would.
Rosin’s time was running out. Takma alerted him to the fact by saying: “You have thirty seconds Doctor.” Her voice was icy as she said these words. He began to work even harder.
*Please, if there really is a Spirit, don’t let this man die.* Rosin pleaded. He cared nothing for Paris, but he knew that Takma would kill him if he couldn’t revive Paris.
A few seconds later, his patient let out a slight cough. Rosin looked down at his instruments. Paris’s heart was beating again and he was slowly beginning to breathe as well.
A relieved smile covered Rosin’s face. “He’s alive,” he told Takma.
B’Elanna finally took a breath. She had no idea how long she had held her breath, but now she sucked in a great quantity of the precious oxygen. She and Tom could kill these two together.
Takma walked over to Paris. She had lost her conceited manner over the past few minutes and now she was unimaginably quiet. Her face remained impassive as she looked down at the man in the chair.
Tom’s head hung down on his chest limply and his breathing was ragged as he tried to adapt to using just one lung. She went over to a nearby replicator and retrieved a wet rag. Then she returned to Paris.
She knelt down beside Tom’s chair and brought the rag up to his face. A trickle of blood ran from his lips and she gently wiped it away. For the first time in her life, she showed her compassionate side. Taking his chin in her hand, she began to wipe the sweat from his brow.
Tom felt a soothing rag pass over his face. He had no idea who was tending to him but he was determined to find out. He struggled to open his one good eye. After a few seconds, his vision began to swim into focus. With it came Takma.
“Not... valuable enough...t
o you dead... am I?” He struggled to say. Using his last reserves of strength, he pulled away from her grasp and brought his head up stiffly so that he was sitting up straight once more.
Takma stepped back and stared at the man before her. Her voice was flat as she said, “There’s one thing I will give you
Rune, you have more courage and resilience than anyone I have ever met.” She paused for a second. “And that’s exactly what will kill you.”
She stepped away and walked over to the doctor. “Keep and eye on him. We’ll continue this at a later time.”
Rosin nodded. Takma stole one last glance at Tom before she left the room. He maintained a stiff posture; his eyes were focused on the wall.
She shook her head and left. For some reason, this time had been different than the others. She had killed many before now, but this time seemed different for some reason.
Kail approached her in the corridor. “Were you successful?” Kail asked.
She shook her head. “Not yet. It seems we have an old friend here. Landis is still alive.”
Kail was silent as Takma explained to him the proceedings.
Once Takma had left the room, Tom’s head sunk back down. The pain was so overwhelming; he wished he was dead, not for the first time in his life.
B’Elanna felt tears in her eyes as she looked at him. He had put up a front while in the presence Takma, but now it was even more evident how badly he was doing.
“Tom,” she said. Her voice was filled with concern as she tried to get a response from her lover. “Tom, say something.”
He lifted his head slightly. His voice was barely above a whisper as he said. “I’m still here.”
Owen looked at his son. Memories of his torture by the Cardassians was fresh on his mind, but it had been nothing like this. He tried to keep the anger down that was building up within himself. Once he got out of here, he would personally make sure that these people paid.
The entrance of another Parvanian interrupted his thoughts. Tom noticed the man enter as well and he raised his head back up while in the presence of this man. He wouldn’t let Kail see him weak either.
The General walked into the room slowly. Takma had just left to collect her thoughts for a few moments, so he took the opportunity to pay a visit on the prisoner.
“I never thought I would see the day when ‘the mighty’ Rune Landis was our prisoner again.” Kail snickered.
Tom said nothing, but merely regarded the General with contempt. Takma was bad enough, but he didn’t think he would be able to hold up if Kail began the torture again.
The General circled Paris’s chair. He still couldn’t believe their luck. Of course, he had been glad that they had been knocked off course. He had never wanted to go to their intended destination. Takma was assured that they would be safe, but he had this feeling that if they went there, they wouldn’t make it out alive.
But now they were in the Alpha Quadrant and had a prize almost as valuable as what they had sought for in the first place.
“Do you have anything to say about the new Pretor?” Kail asked.
Tom averted his attention to the General. “She’ll be dead soon... so I don’t place much value in her.” He paused for a moment. He knew he shouldn’t say his next line, but he couldn’t help it. “I see she’s made you... her new lapdog though... Tell me, do you fetch her slippers as well?”
Kail’s anger was ignited. He took his fist and delivered a hard blow to Paris’s jaw. Tom saw stars for a few moments, but then it was gone. At lack of any major damage, Kail only became even more angry. He ordered the two drones beside Paris to stand the man up so he could be more properly satisfied.
Tom stifled a gasp as his body cried out in agony from being moved. His Borg healing was working in over time but not even he could keep up with all the injuries he had sustained.
Kail punched Tom in the stomach again. This time he received a better reaction. Tom’s body was limp as the drones held him up. He recoiled from the blow to his injured side but said nothing.
Kail shook his head. “It’s not as fun if you can’t hear the bones break.”
Tom looked up at the older man. “If that’s...if that’s all you want.”
Paris was just as infuriated with Kail as the General was with him. Summing up his last reserves of strength, he brought his one good leg up and delivered a swift kick to Kail’s chest.
There was a sickening crunch as the older man staggered back and fell to the ground. He struggled to catch his breath as
Doctor Rosin ran over to him. He passed an instrument over the General’s chest a few times and then said; “You’ve got two broken ribs. I’m going to have to repair them immediately.”
Kail pushed the doctor away and grabbed the Padd off the table. He entered a series of commands and then watched as Paris choked back a scream. Tom’s body shuddered violently for a moment and then became deathly still from where it hung in the Drones’ grasp.
Rosin’s eyes widened as he got back to his feet. He took the Padd away from the General’s grasp and then went over to
Paris. “Put him down!” he ordered the drones.
Paris’s body fell limply to the ground. Rosin muttered to himself as he examined the human’s body. “Takma will kill us all if he’s dead. By the Spirits, General, what were you thinking?!”
Kail remained silent as the doctor worked on Tom’s inert form. By the grace of the Spirit, Paris was still alive. Three more of the explosives had detonated within his system, but luckily, they hadn’t been near any vital organs.
Janeway watched the doctor work. She could see Harry struggling to hold B’Elanna back. The woman was screaming at the Parvanians in Klingon. Admiral Paris was silent through the whole thing, but Janeway could see the anger building in his eyes.
She averted her gaze back to Tom. His body was extremely still but it looked like he was breathing.
Takma walked in just at that moment. She stared at the prisoner on the floor and began a screaming oration. “What in the
Hell has happened here?!!
Rosin looked up from where he was working. “He’s alive, Pretor, but I need to operate on him.”
She turned to Kail. The General remained silent as she approached him. “What happened?” she asked. It was evident that she was trying to keep her temper under control.
He stood at attention as he said. “I was beginning to interrogate him once more, however, I did not realize that the explosives would have such an effect on him.” he lied.
She seemed to regard his words for a few moments and then brought her hand back. With one sudden move, she gave him a stiff upper cut to the jaw. He reeled back for a moment but then caught his balance once more.
“You do what ‘I’ say General. Is that understood?” She asked.
He nodded. “It won’t happen again.” he said through clenched teeth.
She then walked over to the body on the floor. After a few moments, she said. “We aren’t going to get anything out of him this way.”
Kail walked over to her. “Perhaps we should just assimilate him and be done with it. We might not get any information about the Resistance, but we will be able study his anatomy and get data from that. With any luck, we will be able to improve our drones by using him.”
She nodded. “Rosin, take him back to the ship. If we can’t get him to cooperate willingly, we’ll just have to try force. Have him ready to be assimilated immediately.”
Rosin nodded. Takma then turned to Kail. “General, I would like to have a few words with you privately on my ship, if you will.”
She walked away and Kail tried to catch up with her. He dreaded the oncoming ‘conversation’.
B’Elanna watched as a pair of drones came to carry Tom away. She felt her emotions waging war on each other as her mate disappeared around the corner.
Picard turned to Janeway. “What did she mean, you helped her?”
Janeway’s eyes fell to the ground. “We’ve got a lot
to tell you.”
B’Elanna didn’t even bother listening to the oration that Janeway was giving. Her mind was far too weighed down with anger to even register anything else. Her thoughts then took a different turn as she wondered for the first time just where Xara was.
Xara was crawling through the air vents when she came to a dead end. *I suppose this is as far as I go.* she thought.
She looked down at the Padd in her hand. The darkness made it hard to read, but she then could see that it was time for her to act. Tom had been taken to the Imperial ship only a few moments ago. Now she just had to find a terminal.
Paris was transported to Rosin’s medical bay in only a few minutes. The ‘good’ doctor was so pressured for time by Takma that he didn’t have very long to repair the injuries Paris had sustained. He merely blocked any internal bleeding and rerouted some of Paris’s systems.
The Doctor occasionally would glance to the corner of his table to make sure that the phaser was still there. His greatest fear was that Paris would awaken during the proceedings. Therefore, he kept the gun at his side for just such and emergency.
After ten minutes, he was done. Tom was still unconscious, so he deemed now the best time to perform the assimilation.
He operated his communicator. “Pretor Takma,” he said.
She responded, “Yes, Doctor, what is it.”
“The subject is ready for the assimilation,” he said. “Do you want me to take him to the chamber now?”
Takma’s mood lightened as she heard the doctor’s words. “Yes, Doctor. Do so immediately.” The newest member of her collective would soon be ready.
Rosin gathered his equipment and prepared to transport Paris directly to the chamber. He was so preoccupied by this that he failed to notice Tom’s eyes flicker open for a second.
Paris’s world was spinning. He could barely make out where he was, but he realized that it must be the Imperial ship. He closed his eyes again. He needed to bide his time for now.
