What Price Loyalty?

[Cmdr JFarrington 0]

A Joint Log by LtCmdr Faldek and Imaj of Kirok

ISS Manticore, Stardate 5108033.1

 

What Price Loyalty?

 

It was exceedingly obvious from the security recordings that SubCommander Faldek had indeed recruited the mutineers. It was less obvious that his intentions were honorable, but it seemed so. As she watched him in his cell Imaj felt pressed to test him fully. Leaving Commander Precip to continue viewing the logs, she made her way towards the brig with a proven security officer by her side as a bodyguard. Dire times called for drastic measures.

 

Together they entered the brig. After Doug and Keb’s paltry attempt at deception and escape – all captured on the security cameras – they had been duly punished and shackled in solitary confinement. The booth had been exceedingly useful in the last 24 hours.

 

Separate cells securely housed the conspirators. Precip’s elite forces, brandishing extraordinary weapons, lined both sides and guarded every exit. In the first cell was Science Chief Malcolm Escher. Following that were security officers Matt McFly and Kansas Kenickie.

 

At the very end, SubCommander Beran Faldek stood some distance from the force field, having risen at the sound of the door opening. It was good he was alone. Given what Imaj had seen on the recording, had he been put with a mutineer someone would have ended up dead. Considering Faldek’s stature and expertise as a Cardassian, she was sure it would not be him. He leaned forward to see who the visitors were.

 

Slowly, methodically, Imaj eyed each prisoner, careful to keep her distance – not from fear, but as a way to observe them all from a professional, commanding distance. Some met her gaze with defiance.

 

Obviously guilty.

 

Some dropped their eyes.

 

Equally guilty, probably contemplating their very short futures.

 

She approached Faldek's cell, stopped just enough to show she was giving the situation careful thought, then said to the guard, "Release him." The guard, unquestioning, dropped the force field and stepped back, his weapon at the ready.

 

Faldek cocked his head slightly and stood, waiting to be released. As soon as the force field dropped he gave the commander the ISS salute. “Commander Imaj, I give you my most sincere condolences."

 

Do you? We shall see.

 

Imaj nodded to Faldek, keeping her still-raw emotions in check. "Come," she said, with a snap of her arm, her face stern, her jaw set. It was important to keep the other prisoners guessing why she was taking this man. Was he going to his death? Had he been exonerated? That they should not know. Imaj instructed her bodyguard to fall in and cover Faldek as they exited.

 

"Yes, ma'am," said Faldek, stepping out of the brig, slightly leery of the fellow behind him with a phaser pointed at his back. He began to follow Imaj, regardless of his current dislike for this situation, ignoring the other cells as he walked past.

 

A short walk down the corridor, a sharp turn to the left, and they entered an interrogation room. It was spacious enough for prisoner and questioner, yet small enough to evoke claustrophobia in those who were so inclined. Along the walls hung various terrifying instruments, some recently used. The room still reeked of sweaty acids and blood from the last visitor - the rebel taken from Colony 252.

 

Without emotion, Imaj kicked a chair to the center of the room. "Sit." Her bodyguard snapped into a position with a clear shot at Faldek should his services be necessary.

 

Faldek followed her into the well-known interrogation room. Though he had been stunned twice and had not received medical attention, he sat with perfect posture, a slightly sullen look on his face. "How might I be of assistance to you Commander?"

 

"Speak when you are spoken to!" she snapped, "and not before."

 

Imaj remained standing. She was not as careless as she perceived her deceased bond-mate to be. She did not sit in the presence of prisoners. She crossed her arms to stare at him for several minutes.

 

Beran looked quietly at Imaj. He was not taken aback by her scorn and regarded her without disdain. He showed no fear. He knew the ins and outs of interrogation and kept his patience, silently waiting for her to speak.

 

Slowly, evenly, she began, "Tell me, Cardassian, of your loyalty to the Empire and why I should not strike you dead. Here. And now."

 

"Commander, my loyalty to the Empire is unwavering and true. The proof is in my setting up a mutiny, to flush out usurpers and fakes. The only concern of mine is the punishment and imprisonment of those who aren't loyal to the Empire." he replied evenly. "You should not strike me dead because I have done this of my own accord, because I was unsure of who could be trusted and who couldn't be. As I did not see Hilee in a cell I assume he was loyal as well, gathering Intel on my own little operation." He stopped and waited.

 

Without changing her stance, Imaj’s hand slipped to the ceremonial dagger strapped to her thigh. Releasing its sheath catch, she stroked it slowly, still meeting Faldek's eyes. "Words are cheap, SubCommander. Words are broken more often than not. What assurance do you give me of your loyalty? What real assurance do you offer?" She continued to stroke the dagger, slowly, methodically. Behind her the bodyguard took the slightest step backwards, as if to avoid contact with its lethal blade.

 

Faldek eyed the dagger. "I will swear everything on my life. With my blood." In a daring move he met her eyes with all the rage and fury he held within, along with all of his hope and loyalty. “Will you allow me to swear this in such a manner?”

 

A nearly-imperceptible smile flicked across her face as she drew the blade and handed it to him. The bodyguard instantly leveled his weapon at Faldek's head.

 

Not surprised by the guard's action, Faldek didn’t even act as if he'd noticed. With his eyes locked onto hers he took the blade and cut slowly across the palm of his hand, closing his fingers around it, making sure to keep blood on the blade. "With my life I will always faithfully and honestly serve the Empire," he said, then held the blade, still in the hand he cut, offering it to her, its handle only visible. He dropped to one knee, his head bowed before her.

 

Imaj stepped forward and swiftly withdrew the blade from his hand so it sliced even deeper. Then, hilt in hand, she wiped his blood first on his left shoulder, then his right. From her pocket she pulled a pure white silk cloth to clean the blade. This completed the ceremony. Turning towards the security camera, she raised the dagger, resting in its silken drape, and nodded.

 

"He is free to go," she said to her bodyguard. Then she made a swift exit, no doubt in her mind that Beran would remain loyal to the Empire, and especially loyal to her. As despicable as Cardassians could be, they did have their uses.

 

Faldek stood slowly, letting go a small sigh of relief. Clenching his cut hand into a tight fist to help stop the bleeding he headed for the door. Before exiting the interrogation room, he stopped to look at the chair behind him, then turned his face forward and continued, leaving the security area. He set out first for his quarters to get a bandage for his hand, a shower, and a change of uniform. His next stop was sickbay for their crude usage of a dermal regenerator.