The Turning

[Victria 0]

"Do you really think it ethical to keep her here like this?" Commander Banks glanced inquisitively at her commanding officer as the two of them stood in front of the forcefield.

 

"We operate in gray areas, Banks. And not to sound like a Vulcan cliche, but the good of the many outweighs the good of the one, especially when that one is a blood thirsty animal." Captain Hartford frowned as he continued to stare into the cell.

 

"Still... she does have rights. I mean, she is a sentient creature and has been living with the Excalibur crew without incident. The reports I've seen have her functioning as a valuable member of the crew."

 

Marshall Hartford turned to peer dispassionately down at the naive woman, his frown deepening. "Would you care to join her in that cell, Commander? Do you trust her enough to not kill you at the first opportunity?"

 

"Well... I... I didn't say that... but it's just that..."

 

"It's just that you have no idea of what she is capable. When the team reached Excalibur, she was fang-deep into the neck of the Captain - her commanding officer. Does that sound like a 'valuable member of the crew' to you?"

 

"Well no, but..."

 

"Not that he didn't deserve it," Marshall said, smiling for the first time. "I would have given a year's worth of credits to have seen Corizon taken down a few pegs. But that's beside the point. Insubordination is not excusable, nor is the assault of a fellow officer."

 

"Stop being such a hard ass, Marshall," a new arrival said from the door. "I remember a few Academy brawls that you participated in where more than one fellow officer was knocked out cold with that nasty left hook of yours." He chuckled at Hartford's expression as he approached.

 

"Doctor McConnell," the Captain grunted, visibly annoyed. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't scheduled to arrive until tomorrow."

 

"No doubt you'd made plans to be gone by then," Ethan said, his expression one of amusement. He tucked both hands into the pockets of his lab coat in habitual fashion and peered past the bulk of the Captain to the slender Commander Banks. "Josephine! A pleasure to see you again. I had no idea you were assigned to Caspian Two, else I might have visited earlier."

 

"Ethan," she nodded, automatically returning his smile. A glare from her Captain, however, quickly wiped away the expression. She cleared her throat uneasily. "Nice to see you again as well, Doctor."

 

"When you're done flirting with my staff, McConnell, let me know," Marshall growled.

 

"I doubt I'll ever be done flirting, especially when so many of your staff officers are beautiful women like the Commander here," he flashed a smile at Josephine. "No offense, Jo."

 

"None taken," she said, trying extremely hard not to smile.

 

"Watch yourself, Commander," Hartford growled again at the Doctor. "I'm still in charge here and I don't tolerate insubordination."

 

"It is Captain, actually. You'd know that if you'd bothered to read any of my communications." McConnell opened his lab coat slightly to reveal the four pips at his neck. "And yes, you are still in charge of this station, but you are not in charge of this subject. I've been assigned as her liaison to help ease the transition."

 

Hartford snorted. "Good luck. She's going to be trouble."

 

"Trouble is what you make it, Marshall." Ethan smiled thinly. "First order of business... stop talking about her as though she is not present."

 

"Victria, are you unharmed?" McConnell approached the cell, leaning casually on the edge of the forcefield generator.

 

"She can't hear you or see you," Captain Hartford snorted. "The forcefield blocks both. We made sure of that."

 

"Did you read her file?" McConnell turned, slightly amused. "Did you catch the part about her extraordinary hearing and vision?"

 

"Of course, but that field is proofed."

 

"For most beings, yes. But her range is far beyond the field limitations. Perhaps you should write up a report on that for the engineers to remedy." He turned back to the cell. "You've been listening to every word, haven't you Victria?"

 

Sitting calmly on the floor of her cell, Victria slowly opened her eyes and lifted her gaze. Rising to her feet, she approached the end of the cell and stood in front of the forcefield. She stared directly at Captain Hartford, her eyes narrowed. Marshall paled visibly.

 

"Are you going to let me out or not? I'm hungry." A slow smile spread across her lips until the very tips of her fangs showed.

 

"Of course we are. You aren't a prisoner, after all. I'm sure Captain Hartford was just taking... precautions," Ethan assured, glancing sideways.

 

"Commander, signal the team. I'm not letting her out of there until we've taken even more precautions." Marshall was scowling as he backed up several steps to let Commander Banks do her job.

 

In only a few moments, the room was swarming with well trained security personnel. They took up various positions, phaser rifles at the ready. Hartford did a quick check, nodded his satisfaction, and indicated that one of them should disengage the forcefield. The shimmering light died and for several heartbeats no one moved. Then, all at once, everything exploded.

 

Faster than they could track, Victria launched herself out of the cell and tackled Captain Hartford. She was snarling inches away from his face when the first beam of ultraviolet light hit her. Howling in rage, she rolled away from the attack and jumped to her feet, dodging several ordinary phaser blasts to take down the nearest security officer. Snatching up his weapon, she quickly dispatched two more of the guards. She winced as another concentrated beam of ultraviolet struck her in the face, but she did not slow. It only enraged her further. No more than a minute later, the eight security crewmen were on the floor, either unconscious or writhing in pain. Commander Banks had been struck by friendly fire and lay gasping with Doctor McConnell hovering over her to check her vitals. Hartford was on the floor, the barrel of a phaser rifle pressed underneath his chin. Still snarling, Victria loomed over him, her finger tapping the trigger dangerously.

 

"Well..." Ethan helped Commander Banks to her feet and supported her to the nearest chair. "That went better than I expected." He tapped his comm badge, smiling at Victria when he caught her scowling in his direction. "Medical emergency to Interrogation Room 3."

 

"Victria, I believe you can let him up now. You aren't going to kill him and it would be better for you if you aren't threatening a superior officer when the medical team gets here. They'll only summon more security." He sighed.

 

"I am not some experiment to do with as you please," she hissed, her words for them both.

 

"Get the hell off of me," Hartford growled, glaring up at her.

 

"Say please," she grinned evilly as she pressed the rifle a bit further into his flesh.

 

"I suggest you do as she says, Captain. It is your fault, after all. You insulted her." Ethan left Josephine to check on the other downed officers.

 

Hartford gritted his teeth, but managed to grate out a resentful 'please'. Victria hesitated for a moment, then pulled the phaser away, letting it drop to rest against her thigh as she took several steps back. Rubbing his throat, he sat up and immediately tapped his comm badge.

 

"Security to Interrogation Room 3!"

 

"Belay Security!" McConnell yelled into his comm almost at the same moment, having anticipated Hartford’s action. "If she'd wanted you dead, she would have ripped your throat out. All of these men are alive. Consider that for a moment." The room fell silent as the two glared at each other.

 

"Interesting weapon modification," Victria said sarcastically, ignoring their silent power struggle. "Why could you possibly need an ultraviolet beam? Was this all for my benefit, or are you planning on engaging the Al-Ucard in battle."

 

"We must be planned for any contingency." Captain Hartford pulled himself to his feet. He was still glaring, but the effect was somewhat diminished by the fact that he could not decide who to glare at the most.

 

"Right." She threw the rifle into the wall so hard that the casing shattered. "Now, what in the hell do you people want and why am I being held? If you plan to keep me in a cell indefinitely or begin performing lab experiments on me," blue eyes shifted to the doctor, "then you can expect quite a bit of resistance."

 

"Don't look at me," Ethan held up his hands with a slight laugh. "I'm a psychoanalyst, not a butcher. I'm here to help ease you into the transition, not hold you prisoner. Starfleet Intelligence wishes for you to work for us. You aren't being allowed to leave because you'll head straight back to Al-Ucard, which we cannot have."

 

"You'd deny me freedom despite all that I've accomplished for your Federation?" Victria scowled. "I returned from a mission that nearly killed me, endured torture beyond your comprehension, destroyed a grounded Scorpiad fleet single-handedly, and retrieved reconnaissance that proved to be the savior of countless lives."

 

"All very admirable, and exactly the sort of quality that we like to see in a Federation officer, but that isn't quite the issue."

 

"Oh? Enlighten me."

 

"You've served aboard one of our ships. You've used our technology. And you've intimate knowledge of our rules, regulations, and procedures." Hartford chimed in, pausing as the emergency medical team entered and begin to quickly cart out the injured. His attention shifted back to Victria once he decided they were all doing the best job possible. "You know too much."

 

She snorted. "Your technology is simple in comparison to what the Scorpiad have developed. Rudimentary, even. If I had the urge to sell such information to the highest bidder, who would be interested in it? Certainly not the Al-Ucard. We prefer to use other methods to accomplish our goals, not espionage."

 

"Of course," the doctor added smoothly. "And your knowledge of those advanced systems is another reason why we cannot let you leave. At the moment, we have two foreign ships in our base that our engineers are puzzled over. Your help would drastically reduce the time they'll need to spend on them. Not to mention the other ways you can help us out."

 

Her expression darkened. "You want me to spy for you," she stated as the realization hit her.

 

"You are the perfect candidate for such work," Ethan said soberly. "You are valuable to us, and not as simply a tool to be used or abused. We need your help. Desperately. If the Scorpiad decide to break the uneasy truce and invade, there is little we can do to stop them if they have full resources at their disposal. We would rather uncover any such plot before it happened in order to prevent it. At the moment, you are our only link to that quadrant, the Scorpiad, the Al-Ucard, and all other races the Scorpiad have under their rule."

 

"I’ve had enough of this." Captain Hartford grumbled. "She's your charge, McConnell. Do what you need to do, but don't come crawling to me with your throat ripped out when she tries to kill you. You are responsible for her until she leaves this facility." He glared at Victria again, then motioned for Josephine to join him, only to discover that she'd already been taken out by the medical staff. Annoyed, he stomped out of the room.

 

"Don't worry about him. He's always been paranoid." Ethan approached her, fingers lightly touching her arm. "Are you well... really? Were you injured?"

 

Smacking his hand away, she frowned at him. "I heal quickly. Where are my things?" When she’d awaken, she’d been dressed in the same type of loose fitting pants and tank-top that one might see at any medical facility. Predictably, all of the bladed weapons that she carried on her person had been removed.

 

"I'm afraid that allowing you to carry weapons is forbidden... for now... though practice exercises have been scheduled for you based on the holodeck programs that you'd created on the Excalibur. I thought you might like to have this, however." Reaching into the pocket of his lab coat, he held up a long silver chain upon which dangled a small vial of blood.

 

"It was analyzed as procedure dictated, so we are aware of what is inside. A personal gift from a superior officer?" He arched one eyebrow.

 

She took the chain from him and held the vial up to inspect it. "He gave it to me as a sign of friendship, I think, though the concept is still foreign to me. Ally, perhaps, would be more understandable." Dropping the vial into her other palm, she closed her hand tightly around it and squeezed until it shattered.

 

"What are you doing!" He grabbed her hand and pried it open, hastily picking out pieces of embedded glass. "Are you insane or simply want people to think you are? Our intel had the two of you involved in something more than just a professional relationship."

 

She watched impassively as he tended her hand, though the cuts were already healing over. "The last time I saw Atticus Segami, he shot me in the chest at maximum stun and clubbed me in the back of the head in an attempt to subdue me. The last thing I want in my possession is a piece of him to remind me of that betrayal. For his sake, I hope we do not meet again anytime soon."

 

Ethan met her gaze as he wiped away the last of the blood with the hem of his once-pristine lab coat. "I can see that we are going to be spending a lot of time together. You definitely need help with your anger management."

 

Victria smiled slowly, fangs fully bared. "You are more than welcome to try... but I wouldn't recommend it."

[Kansas_Jones 0]

Nice! w00t!