In the Blink of an Eye...Part 3

Posted on 30 May 2024 @ 3:13pm by Chief Petty Officer Katja Becker

1,700 words; about a 9 minute read

Previously on In the Blink of an Eye...

The Centurion stepped closer to her, just barely skirting within what Katja would have considered her personal space. It wasn’t quite threatening, but it made her excruciatingly aware of the large man standing slightly too close for comfort.

“I take you. You save his life. He is brother to me. I take care for you now.” Maec said with a brisk nod and then turned and strode out of the sick bay leaving her standing next to the slumbering captain.

Katja watched the Centurion leave with open confusion written upon her features. What did he mean? Did she want to know?

With nothing else to do, she sat back down on the ground next to the captain's biobed and curled onto her side and closed her eyes as well. Perhaps, when she awoke, all of this would be nothing but a really screwed up dream that she could laugh about over drinks with her comrades one night.

And now the continuation...

The inextricable passage of time was a bastard, really. Katja found herself busy caring for–of all things–her ‘enemies.’ Maec had been correct. The Romulan medical officer’s death was part of the reason her transport had been hunted. The Aethra had spent months lurking about in Federation space, feeding data on asset movement and supply line schedules.

It ship's current assignment was not exciting work, but such data was critical for the next phase…to be unknown was to be unconquerable, and by the time they were ready to attack, The Romulan empire would know every Starfleet captain’s preferred style of socks and underwear, let alone what flight patterns their ships’ pilots were fond of and how to get past their weapons’ spread.

Katja's life, meanwhile, had condensed down to the realm of the medical bay. Once the injuries from the last ‘battle’ had been seen, the place was rather quiet. Vrenak remained stable and after he had enough of ‘resting,’ left when she wasn’t looking. As Katja still had her life, she figured the guy was doing alright.

She spent the time trying to figure out all of the equipment, medications, and ins and outs of the place all the while wondering why Maec took her rank insignia. To know that he grabbed the wrong person…that she was only alive by a mistake. Well…there were better feelings to experience, certainly.

God what she wouldn’t give for a drink, and if now wasn’t an appropriate time to get stockbesoffen, then when would that be?

How many times had these intrusive thoughts rolled about her mind over the last few days. She was left to her own thoughts, her own devices, but Katja couldn’t help but feel that her existence was somehow at a standstill, but when everything started moving again…what would become of her?

Oh, she wasn’t afraid of dying. Hell, she was looking forward to the trip…but the gaping maw of the future now before her was terrifying. Romulans practiced slavery…hadn’t she already been called that at least once since getting here? What would that mean? She had some skills, but Katja surely didn’t think she was a beauty, nor did she have a personality that was appealing…was she gonna end up in some dilithium mine or scrubbing floors or–

“Maenek.” (Healer)

She turned around to the voice and saw Centurion Maec striding towards her. Katja hadn’t seen him since he left after the unknown discussion with the then bedridden captain.

“Maec…er…Centurion.” Katja quickly amended, looking him up and down but in an assessing manner. “Can I help you?”

“Riov Vrenak has given you to me.” Maec answered succinctly in Rihannsu. ”We are returning behind the lines to resupply and obtain new personnel. Given your performance it was determined that your continued presence on this ship would prove beneficial. You will assist the new medical officer.”

Katja blinked as the UT translated what he said and her facial expression shifted between a number of confusing expressions…at least to Maec. She looked as if she would laugh and then cry and then…ah…such a fiery expression. Oh to look down upon her, to see that very expression while on her back, in his bed, as he drove into her…

Maec cleared his throat. “You will come with me. I will show you where you will sleep now.”

She kept herself from balking, but just barely. Her mind was, quite frankly, reeling. However, she hadn't survived this long by being slow to respond. Katja nodded quickly and raced after Maec when he turned and marched out of the medical bay. She followed him to a set of doors that hissed open, and cautiously walked through the doorway after he motioned for her to enter.

The quarters she was brought to were smaller than she imagined a higher level officer owning. There was a sleeping platform and a small, low couch with a table and what appeared to be a desk off in the corner. There was another door which Katja assumed led to the bathing facilities.

Ahhh...to be allowed a shower. She had been making do with washcloth 'bird baths' in the med bay...to have an opportunity to get clean, maybe some clean clothing. She might be willing to do just about anything for that.

N'veid stepped up behind her and felt her tense. It brought a smirk to his face. There was something about her that was…alluring…perhaps. He knew it had been an aberration to take interest in a human, but the Elements worked in mysterious ways sometimes.

Humans reminded him of Romulans…or at least who they once had been. Their species were young, brash, arrogant…able to wreak terrible violence, but with such passions! And then the Vulcans got a hold of them. Within two generations what made humans so incredibly irresistible had been completely pacified by their Logical minders. Now saccharine and sweet, and even worse! Ashamed of their past displays of passionate brutality. The Vulcans didn’t even have to remove their emotions from them. Their ‘gentle’ guidance had been more than enough to break the humans to the fist…and now they were pale shadows of what they could have been.

The human female was nothing like he imagined. There was a feigned docility for the sake of self-preservation coupled with a quick-thinking intelligence that Maec found utterly...alluring.

N’veid had never been a prude by any means, but he considered intimacy to be an act of importance. It mattered for it was a bearing of oneself to another. He had been called a fool for such a mindset, but his focus had always been service to the Empire. The Empire had been his mistress, his lover, and he was quite devoted to ‘her.’ However, this woman? This fragile Human female?

The moment he saw her snarling at him, something had shifted. A long dormant desire flared to brilliancy, and as the days passed after the encounter with the Starfleet transport ship, he came to realize that his desire to possess her went far beyond a simple physical urge after battle.

Fvadt. He thought silently as he reached his hand out and tentatively stroked her pale, wavy tresses. Human hair was softer than he had imagined. He felt the woman stiffen but she did not make any other movement. Good. She was smart and already displayed the self-control that would be required to keep herself alive.

--

The Centurion’s hands slipped around her neck as something substantial slipped across her collarbones. The metallic click of the collar closing around her throat evaporated Katja’s complacency and she spun and tried to fight, but Maec had already stepped away, as if expecting this.

"Was zum Teufel?! Katja shrieked in her native tongue as she clawed at the collar, and apparently the actions had been enough to engage whatever programming the device had installed on it, for an electric shock coursed through her and she crumpled to her hands and knees on the ground.

”I have found that demonstrations are often more effective than verbal warnings. You belong to me. The collar denotes that and will ensure your compliance. What you experienced was its lowest setting. You are intelligent enough, Beh-ker, how far do you think the collar's corrections will escalate to?” He said softly in Rihannsu as he crouched down and pulled the female back to her feet.

He stepped forward again once she had gotten her feet back underneath her, and chuckled as the woman took a step back. He moved forward a few more steps until the backs of her legs came into contact with the sleeping platform.

Ah, my nierrh*…I have you where I want you now... he thought silently as her pale blue eyes stared daggers into his. Yes. There it was! The fire that stirred his hachae...and other things.

*nierrh - a small Romulan bird, similar to a hummingbird, but carnivorous/venomous - dangerous in large flocks - ALSO a term of endearment

He reached up and ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek, and he felt her trembling. He knew it was not from desire so he regretfully pulled away. Why exactly he did so…uncertain. His ownership meant he could do anything he wanted with her, but that sat like a stone within him. The thought of forcing her? He would not need to. He was a patient man.

“You are enemy, Chief Beh-ker. This is best you can hope for.” N’veid frowned, disliking the lack of fluency between them. That would need to change, but for now at least she held a translator that made adequate communication possible between them.

"I will be kind to you...gentle, yes? This is what human females desire?" Maec murmured softly in question.

"This human female desires to live, and perhaps enough ale to drown herself in..."

To be continued...

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