"Resourceful Agony"

[Lilet tTemarr 0]

The intense throbbing in her skull was too much to ignore. Lilet pressed one hand to her forehead as she awoke, willing the pain to recede. She tentatively explored the area of greatest pain and winced as her fingers encountered a swollen lump just behind her left ear where she'd been struck. Simply touching it made her stomach queasy.

 

"Veruul," she muttered, cursing the man that struck her.

 

"'Scuse me?"

 

Lilet cracked one eye open and peered across the room at the security officer in her quarters. She'd been dumped on the couch and he had taken a seat in a chair by the door, presumably to stop her from leaving. With a slight groan, she pushed herself into a sitting position and sagged against the cushions until the pain in her head lowered to a manageable level.

 

"I require medical attention. Call the doctor," she ordered, closing her eyes again against the pain.

 

"She's busy," he smirked. "And Lefty didn't give orders ta bring her here, so yer gonna to have to do without until I hear different."

 

"You should think carefully about your situation," she said slowly. She opened both eyes and raised them to peer at the officer. "Your superior position is temporary and will not last, especially when Corizon returns."

 

"I'm followin' orders, see. I don't give a rat's ass about you or the dog while Lefty is in charge."

 

"You will die before this is over," she promised.

 

"Forgive me if I don't start grovelin' now," he laughed. "Yer in no position ta boss me around."

 

Lilet glared at him, but was not in the mood to argue. Checking her holster, she found that her weapons had been taken. The agonizer was also no longer on her person. She had various weapons hidden around her quarters, but judging from the state of disarray, they had probably been found and taken as well. She rose slowly from the couch and slowly picked her way around the toppled furniture.

 

"Where in tha hell do you think yer goin'?" Bristling, her guard rose to his feet.

 

"I need to use the refresher," she said, pausing at the archway that led into her sleeping quarters. "Do you wish to come hold my hand while I go?"

 

Ignoring him, she continued on her way, frowning as she saw that the state of her bedroom mirrored the living area. Clothing had been pulled from her closet and left in piles on the floor. Her bed had been disassembled and ripped apart. All of her carefully placed data files were now scattered about the room. Several of the wall panels had also been removed as well, exposing open circuitry. Despite the annoyance, she allowed herself a slight smirk, thinking of JoNs futile attempts. No doubt the Catian had been searching for the personnel codes to the agonizer, but they had never been written down for anyone to find.

 

Each crew member on board had his or her own personal code that activated the tiny implant in their bodies. To remove the implant without first deactivating it would prove fatal as it would detonate upon exposure. Though the agnoizer was already loaded with everyone's codes and only needed a master key to activate the program, Lilet had felt it wise to memorize three of the most useful personal strings while Corizon was away. One was, of course, Lefty's personal code as she was the most logical instigator of any crew uprising. The other two were more general in nature, one of them targeting the closest available receiver and the other dispersing a broader signal over several meters to target any receivers in a particular area. Without the transmitter, however, those codes were useless… nearly.

 

After seeing to necessity, Lilet paused by the replicator and ordered herself a mug of tea. A sip of the highly sweetened Romulan blend made her feel much better. She downed the first cup and ordered another before making her way to her desk. Taking a seat, she began to reorganize her files and data padds into a more manageable collection.

 

"What are you doin' now?"

 

"I'm working," she replied without glancing up to the approaching officer. "Just because I am to be held here against my will does not mean I must sit and do nothing. We have just gathered quite a bit of valuable goods and the inventory needs to be coded for outgoing shipments."

 

"Whatever. As long as yer not weepin' or nothing', I don't care whatcha do.," he sprawled out on her ruined bed to watch her. "Just keep quiet."

 

Lilet smiled, but said nothing further. In fact, she actually meant to do exactly what she'd stated, at least until the guard grew bored and complacent and went back to doing whatever it was he did to pass the time. It took no more than an hour before he stopped staring at her, scrutinizing her every move. She gave herself another half hour beyond that for appearance's sake and then she turned to her real task.

 

Corizon had explained to her, in great detail, the use of the agonizer and partnered codes. Beyond that, he had also divulged that the transmitter was not exactly necessary if lost or broken. Any transmittable device could be modified with the proper coding to send out the proper frequency. It would not be as reliable or effective as having the actual transmitter, but it would still prove useful. A tricorder would have been ideal, but Lilet did not have access to those. What she did have in great number were data padds, devices which by design could send and receive information to and from the computer's central core. The data stream was not exactly what she needed, but it could be distorted to suit her.

 

Working quickly, she modified the output to transmit the needed range and entered the memorized codes into the device. When the program looked reasonably sound, she aimed the padd in the officer's direction and pressed one of the buttons. A loud humming noise sputtered out of the device. His attention snapped to her and he jumped to his feet.

 

"What in the hell was that?"

 

"I have no idea," she replied calmly, already modifying the program to change the frequency range. When she activated it again, the guard winced, but did not writhe in extreme pain as he should. "Hmmm…"

 

"Drop that!" he shouted, pulling his phaser and taking aim.

 

"Drop what?" she asked, glancing up in feigned confusion, though her fingers continued to program.

 

"The padd. Drop it," he growled.

 

"Ah. If you insist," she said, placing the padd carefully on the desktop. Smiling, she tapped one of the buttons with her finger.

 

Before he could react, the pain struck him and he dropped, gasping. Weapon forgotten, he writhed on the floor as every nerve ending flared with excruciating sensation. Slowly increasing the intensity, she watched with avid curiosity as he lost the ability to even scream. His spine contorted backwards like a bow, threatening to snap in half. His eyes rolled back into his head and his muscles began to twitch rapidly. Blood flowed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. After a few long minutes, all movement finally ceased.

 

"You should have listened," she said with a slight sigh.

 

She bent over him and nudged him with one foot, but it was obvious that he was dead and not simply unconscious. Removing his weapons --and extremely annoyed that none of them were hers--she stepped over his body and walked for the door. Unfortunately, as there was a security lock in place, it refused to open for her authorization code. Deciding it couldn't hurt to try, she pounded on the door as loudly as she could. Amazingly it swished open and the wary security officer on the other side leveled his phaser at her.

 

"Where is Lieutenant Marks?" he asked dangerously.

 

"He isn't feeling well," she replied. She smiled as her fingers drummed lightly on the data padd. "And you should think carefully about your situation…"