"Breaking the Barriers"

[Joe Manning 0]

" ... what is its maximum warp velocity? ... "

 

" ... how many hands are required to operate it? ... "

 

" ... are the control panels encrypted or command-locked? ... "

 

" ... can the ship cloak? "

 

Redera paced back and forth repeating the same questions before checking Nickles' brainwave patterns on his ODRI. He was proving remarkably resistant to her regimen of barrier breaking chemicals. Pressed for time, she had to release stronger pheromone bursts than would be considered safe for a human subject. The drugs she was injecting into Nickles' body were designed to counteract the side effects; she would need Qob's First Mate to be a willing, but lucid participant in later events, not a gibbering slave. With every indication that Nickles would not comply with the treatment, she lowered the drug dosage, increasing the effectiveness of the pheromones, but also risking complete mental enslavement or even catatonia.

 

The Deltan stopped her pacing and reached out a hand to gently stroke Nickles' cheek. She oberved the look in his eyes, the look that was on the border between stubborn defiance and pleasurable surrender. "Just tell me everything I need to know, and we can leave this place together. I will keep you at my side, always."

 

Her ODRI's comm indicator suddenly beeped. She cursed under her breath as she stepped away from the chair to answer the comm. "Yes?"

 

"Mistress Rede," a growling voice on the other end addressed her. "It is Ka'chan. You want to know if any who are not Klingon come to the motel."

 

" ... yes?" Redera replied impatiently, glancing back at Nickles.

 

"Two human males came minutes ago and started a fight."

 

"What did they want?" Redera asked.

 

"Women. They were both drunk. We chased them off. They were a strange pair ... "

 

"Strange how?"

 

"One of them looked ... out of place. Like he came from Freedom District. Too ... neat and clean. The other fit right in. He looked like a human thug. With an arm of metal."

 

Redera's eyes narrowed. "Thank you, Ka'chan. You know your instructions."

 

"Yes, Mistress ... "

 

Redera walked back to Nickles' chair and stared back into his eyes, those eyes that were drifting closer and closer to 'pleasurable surrender.' "The pursuit is right on schedule, Mr. Nickles. But you are delaying things more than I expected. I'm afraid we're going to have to speed the process up." She tapped at her ODRI's controls, lowering the counter-pheromone dosage further.