Prison Break

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We feel free when we escape -- even if it be but from the frying pan to the fire.

 

- Eric Hoffer

 

 

Every member of Excalibur's knights in golden shirts, the security

team, was hard at work. The continuing safety of the ship, their goal.

Lieutenant J.G. Atticus Segami, their temporary "fearless leader",

stood his post at the bridge's main tactical console studying their

recent encounter with the Scorpiads. Noting the extensive damage to

their defensive systems, it looked bad and it seemed for the time

being that their enemy's weaponry was even stronger than anticipated.

 

At the same time as this worried wondering took place, Lieutenant J.G.

"Left Ear" JoNs exited the turbolift to deck 19 and was moving quickly

back toward the main security offices where she had left Ensign Doug.

He was in there completing an inventory of their weapons stock whilst

waiting for the team to meet up and talk. The Catian flexed her paw as

she walked, careful not to spring the illegal wrist weapon she'd

retrieved from her quarters.

 

Further on down the hallway was Excalibur's brig: a place for

reprobates, criminals and all those who'd cause a danger to the ship.

A place where Chief Segami had minutes ago sent J'Ai, a guest of

theirs who was begin was beginning to outlive his welcome in a big

way. Ensign Victria, the Al-Ucardian member of their team was

delivering him to the drone on duty. He filled out the paperwork with

the same air one fills out a crossword puzzle, irritated and

unfulfilled, a grumble always occurring every few seconds.

 

J'Ai on the other hand stood motionless. His dark eyes were blank and

empty. The expression was beyond mere terror, beyond petty fear. It

was catatonic stare, the look of a man who has not only reached the

end of the line but has peeked to see what's past it.

 

"I'd watch him if I were you. There is more to him than we know,"

Victria noted dryly to the brig officer, who mumbled a "yeah yeah" as

he poked at his PADD. Victria studied J'Ai for another moment, then

smiled a sharp-toothed goodbye to the frightened youth and slipped

back into Main Security through the connecting passageway.

 

When the door closed behind the slender figure of Victria, time

dragged to a crawl in the mind of the prisoner. Something about that

satisfied smile of hers and that proud walk triggered something in the

man. It was something primal, angry and hell-bent on survival. The

quick, morse-code-like tapping of the brig officer's pen on the report

PADD began to sound closer to the dreadfully slow tick…tock…tick…tock

of a grandfather clock. As the minutes passed something in the man's

brain slowly snapped, like a rope that unravels under too much weight.

Blood rushed through his veins faster and faster and a vicious anger

pulsated through him like electricity through a wire. Suddenly as it

reached its zenith, J'Ai did what he needed to do. He slammed his palm

into the nose of the man who viewed putting him in a jail cell as a

mere chore. The officer let out a surprised cry of pain as red poured

down his chin but was silenced as another punch to the face sent him

to the floor.

 

A hundred feet away, Left Ear's ears pricked as she heard the blood

curdling yelp echo on the processed air...

 

With his man down, the prisoner took his chance to grab the officer's

phaser off the floor and bolted out the door away from captivity.

Freedom was at hand. Victria's warning to the now unconscious guard

had bore fruit so soon it would almost seem farcical if a prisoner

wasn't now crazed and armed.

 

One might find it almost just as humorous, if not lucky, that Ensign

Doug had chosen this exact moment to leave security and go to the

bathroom and now simply stared as a man stepped into the corridor in a

bloodstained tunic.

 

"Freeze!" he screamed.

 

J'Ai ran. Doug followed suit. Like a terrier must always chase a

moving car, a cop must always chase any wanted man who goes for a jog

covered in someone else's bodily fluids.

 

Out of direct eyesight but not far behind, the Caitian lieutenant

began moving more cautiously. Wary of what might be going on, she

stopped just outside the entrance to the main security offices and

palmed the door open cautiously. She found herself face to face with

Victria. The Al-Ucard was wearing a slightly bemused smile.

 

"Was that trouble, I heard?" Her icy gaze shifted briefly to the corridor.

 

"Aye, It would appear so." JoNs glanced at Victria. "I'm not entirely

sure what I sensed though."

 

"I bet I can guess..." Her gaze shifted in the direction of the brig

and she gave Left Ear a significant look. "I just left J'Ai there to

be placed in a cell."

 

As fate would have it, at this moment a low moan could be heard coming

from that room in question, and like greased-lightning the pair were

moving down the secure passageway that linked the two areas. As they

got close to "the hallowed hall of holding cells", Victria twitched as

she sniffed the air.

 

"I smell... blood," she said.

 

Despite the uncertainty of the situation, JoNs quipped. "You smell

blood? Well, remember, you have to watch your intake. Don't gorge."

 

The Al-Ucardian snorted at JoNs' comment, but didn't respond. They

took a few more steps forward and opened the security entrance with

their keycards before taking in the gruesome scene. The brig officer

was lying on the floor, still alive but very hurt. His breathing was

shallow and his nose was clearly broken. Like Victria had predicted,

blood was dribbling out over the floor in torrents and things had

obviously gone wrong.

 

JoNs' tail started to swish in agitation. "Okay, this is not good. Are

you in the mood for some tracking?" She fixed her partner with a

smirk. "I think our bird has flown the coop."

 

Ignoring the injured guard, Victria headed to the brig door, pausing

to get a sense of the corridor. "I can also smell our new security

officer." She said "All fresh and new and squeaky clean. They both

went this way." Chuckling, she headed into the hallway in pursuit.

Left Ear nodded in affirmation and followed, her adrenaline starting

to spike.

 

Doug meanwhile, was gaining on his target fast. Though the irritating

cliché of pedestrians constantly getting in his way hampered his

process, the distance between him and J'Ai was decreasing rapidly. The

guy was his.

 

J'Ai knew he was being followed closely. He could hear the footsteps

only a couple dozen feet behind him and knew there was only way out.

So immediately he stopped his fleeing, turned around to face his

shadow and stood perfectly still.

 

"Please drop the weapon," Doug said calmly as he approached. "I won't

hurt you if you drop the weapon. I will try to make things go easier

for you."

 

But no convincing seemed to be needed, J'Ai's voice took on a strange,

unexpected, soft tone.

 

"Of course officer. I will come quietly," he stated, bending over to

daintily place his stolen phaser on the ground. He then held his arms

out towards Doug. "Please take me away."

 

Doug moved warily closer.

 

The rest of the security team were not far behind. By now they'd

called Atticus up on the bridge and told him the situation to which

he'd replied simply, "hunt the bastard down". If he could see the

situation he may have thought they were taking it too literally. JoNs

had actually reverted to a stalking type of pursuit, moving quickly on

all fours, keeping pace with Victria as the women tracked the escapee

J'Ai and his pursuer Doug through the confines of Deck 19.

 

The corridor was not particularly crowded, but the few scattered

crewmen that lined the walls left a perfect trail of the chase that

they sensed, but could not see. Victria glanced briefly at the feline

form beside her, jogging effortlessly and dodging any stray people

that were foolish enough to be in the way.

 

As she sensed they were close, Lieutenant JoNs rose to her full height

on the run and triggered the pressure release of her forearm holster,

sending her non-regulation weapon flying into a paw; she kept it

pointed downward.

 

"Thank you." Doug said, as he took soft, slow steps forward.

 

He moved nearer and nearer hoping to get within proximity to

incapacitate the troublemaker. JoNs and Victria rounded the corridor

a few moments later, the two of them closing in as well. Seeing his

chances for escape diminish even further with the addition of two more

officers, J'Ai acted before anyone could stop him.

 

Striking with a frightening speed, the wild eyed fugitive clutched the

ensign round the throat hard with both hands. With the strength of a

wounded beast, his iron grip cut off Doug's breath completely and the

excruciating pain it caused prevented any resistance. He roughly

shoved his would-be pursuer against the wall. The "sad young man"

they'd found, almost unrecognizable.

 

"Like, HELL I'll go with you Starfleet," he growled menacingly.

 

"Please let me go this won't solve any thing," Doug tried to plead

though choked breaths.

 

With a low growl JoNs aimed her small type 1 phaser at the enraged

prisoner, hanging back a bit, keeping Victria out of her line of site.

She waited for an opportunity to fire.

 

"Flight is a pointless and misplaced measure," Victria ventured as she

inched forward. "Unlike the Al-Ucard, the Federation does not torture

and kill its 'guests'."

 

"You think I believe that?" J'Ai shrieked. "Look at my face!" He

turned his head and the bruises Atticus had bestowed upon him during

the away mission were very apparent. His right eye and cheek were

still swollen, glaringly black and blue.

 

"Your boss is a lunatic, and you, you're no better!" He hissed at her

before turning back to look at the man in his grasp.

 

"Please let me go." Doug said, voice almost a whisper. "I will try to

do my best for you. Holding me won't solve this. I will speak to the

Command Staff on your behalf."

 

JoNs stayed back a bit, letting the Al-Ucardian negotiate. She

alternately watched Victria, J'Ai and Doug, fully intending to shoot

J'Ai if he elevated his attack on Doug.

 

Like most Mexican stand-offs the absence of Mexicans wasn't noted.

 

Doug continued to try and reason with the man who was hurting him.

"Please I will do it myself. You have my word. I'm not lying."

 

"You'd really do that?" J'Ai's voice dripped with mock sincerity. "Oh

I truly deeply trust you now! Let me show my gratitude."

 

Without any other warning, he headbutted Doug very hard. An audible

crack was heard as their brows met. People instinctively moved forward

but the hostage-taker screamed.

 

"Back off!" He was beginning to crack. "I want out! Okay?! I Want off

this ship! Let me off this ship now or…I…I break his neck! Okay?!"

 

"He isn't lying," Victria purred, a lift of her chin to indicate Doug.

"You have a born and bred true-to-life Starfleet officer right there

in your grasp and he still wants to help you." She didn't bother to

hide the contempt in her voice as she inched ever closer. "You'll

only make it worse for yourself."

 

"I said back off!!!" He yelled, his control failing.

 

Victria glanced briefly to JoNs to gauge her position. Left Ear was

the superior officer of the three of them, after all, and would be the

one to take the shot when it was time. Left Ear held her fire,

however, waiting until Victria got a bit closer to the escapee. Her

slight nod to Victria indicated her intentions. As quickly as it

left, Victria's attention shifted back to J'Ai and Doug in his his

grasp.

 

Knowing a preparation to strike when he saw it, J'Ai spun Doug round

to face them. Putting him in front as a shield, he kept his arm

tightly around Doug's throat which was now quite red from abuse.

 

"Please... I told you I would help you," Doug pleaded. "One of our

rules of Starfleet is to tell the truth, whether that would be

personal truth or duty. I would never lie when I'm on duty unless

ordered by a Captain and I have none such orders right now."

 

"I... I... I don't wanna die..." J'Ai cried out, breaking into

uncontrollable sobs.

 

"You won't... we'll see to it," Doug reassured the man who was 10

pounds of pressure away from killing him. "Now let me go and I will

contact the Captain."

 

But J'Ai wasn't even listening. Tears streamed down his face as he

stared into nowhere, his sanity gone briefly. Taking advantage of this

distraction, JoNs took a shot at J'Ai's exposed right knee. He

screamed and hit the floor with a thump, letting go of Doug in the

process. The phaser fire seemed to awaken him and he frantically

tried to crawl away, but to no avail. A pathetic sight.

 

Doug moved off and drew his phaser, pointing it at the squirming heap,

but the Caitian lieutenant put a paw up as she started moving.

 

"Ensign Doug! Hold your fire - cover the prisoner only. He's done..."

 

The new man followed the order. "I told him he wouldn't die and I keep my word."

 

"Noooooooo! Noooooooo!" J'Ai screeched. The voice was manic, awful to

hear. The cries were soon silenced though as he buried his face in the

hallway carpet.

 

Moving past Doug, Victria approached J'Ai and lifted him off the floor

by the back of his tunic. She slammed him into one of the walls, the

reverberation of it causing JoNs to wince as it echoed through the

corridor. Victria held him there with one hand, glancing to Doug.

 

"You didn't happen to bring restraints with you, did you?"

 

"I've been held hostage. Of course not!" He answered, slightly annoyed.

 

JoNs spoke quietly. "The three of us can handle him without them, I am

sure." She motioned with her personal phaser back down the corridor.

"I'll take the rear, keeping the weapon on him. Doug, take point.

Victria, escort the prisoner."

 

They began to move into position as it became clear what J'Ai was

saying to himself, over and over again.

 

"He'll...Kill me. He'll kill me..."

 

"No I won't," Doug said.

 

"Not you..." J'Ai gasped. "Himmmmm..."

 

"Who?" JoNs asked, gazing warily at J'Ai.

 

But J'Ai didn't answer. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and

he passed out, falling into Victria's waiting arms.