The Price of Command

Posted on 25 Jul 2012 @ 3:02pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain (HoD) K'nara of the House of Torath (KIA) & Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Coleman & Petty Officer 1st Class Erlohn Troxx (KIA)

3,750 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: IKS Na'vi - Holding Cell #1
Timeline: MD 08 - 1830 hrs

[ON]

Lirha lay sprawled out on the cold and barren floor of the prison cell. It had been hours since she had been beamed off of her own bridge and onto the Klingon ship, yet she was unsure of exactly how much time had passed. When she had first arrived on the enemy transporter pad, she was greeted by a flurry of fists and feet, pummeling her body till she weakly and painfully submitted. A rather heavy blow to her head had knocked her unconscious, and as she slowly opened her eyes, she winced at the painful throbbing sensation which suddenly coursed through her head. She slowly brought her hand up to her temple, feeling the slick and warm sensation of her own blood. The dark room and strong smell of musk was another painful reminder of where she was, and what had just happened to her. Instinctively, her first thoughts were of Galileo, and she wondered where her ship was and if her crew was alright.

Evelyn was sitting upright on the floor, her back against the wall of the Klingon cell. Her eyes fixated on the force-field emitters trying to recall the time she disabled one, but the smell was virtually intoxicating. The last time she was on a Klingon vessel, she wasn't one of their prisoners. She sighed and turned her attention to Lirha. She noticed her waking up and moved towards her, "Captain," she whispered in Orion, "move slowly, they used three pain sticks on you, I'm surprised you woke up so early."

With her head spinning, Lirha could have sworn she heard someone speaking to her in Orion. And strangely, the voice sounded familiar, albeit soft. In an attempt to see who had spoken to her, she lifted her head up and blinked several times, then tried unsuccessfully to fight back a sudden wave of nausea which overcame her. With a gurgled whimper, she vomited on the floor, her belly clenching in pain as her body stiffened and expelled the contents of her stomach in a small pool. Lirha collapsed back onto the floor and closed her eyes again as she tired to regain her composure. "Who..are you?" she finally managed to respond weakly, rolling onto her back as she breathed heavily.

"It's Evelyn Coleman" She whispered, as she reached down and wrapped her warms around Lirha's body from behind, pulling her away from the poll of vomit. "Lirha you need to sit upright." She uttered softly as she gently, albeit clumsily, lifted Lirha upright and lean her against the wall.

The captain slowly digested Evelyn's words as she felt herself being carefully pulled up into a sitting position. Another wave of nausea swept through her, however this time she was able to focus on the lieutenant's voice and keep herself from throwing up again. It took several seconds, but Lirha finally opened her eyes again and glanced around the room, taking note of the familiar gray-collared blond sitting right next to her. Resting her head against the taller woman's shoulder, she quietly spoke again. "I didn't know you could speak my language.." she said, smiling weakly. It was a comforting feeling, at least, to know that she wasn't alone in her cell, and that worst case, at least one of her crew had survived.

"Yeah well, when you live as long as me, you tend to pick up things now and then." Evelyn pushed Lirha's hair behind her ears so she can get some more air. Sitting next to her she can tell what was going through the green woman's mind. "I just want you to know, we're going to get out of this. Not just us, but the Galileo too. You'll just have to trust me on that one."

The mention of her ship caused Lirha's mind to begin racing again as she tried to think through all of the possible circumstances which could have happened. Destroyed, crippled...captured, she thought as she swallowed an uneasy lump in her throat. "What happened to Galileo? How did you get here?" she quietly asked. She assumed that the lieutenant had been beamed off the ship similar to herself, yet she was uncertain.

Evelyn frowned at the memory, "I was transported here right after you. As for our ship's survival, you can say I have a hunch."

A hunch. Not any definitive proof that her ship was still intact, just a hunch. But it was strangely reassuring to hear her intelligence chief speak so calmly and confidently about the current situation. The captain sighed and leaned her head back against the wall, yet kept it still settled against Evelyn's shoulder. Despite the lieutenant's sometimes abrasive and confrontational nature, Lirha was happy to have her on her crew...and now, with her in the holding cell. The Orion reached out and squeezed her arm. "I suppose a hunch is better than nothing..." she mumbled. "I admit, Lieutenant, I always wanted to get closer to you...but I never thought it would be like this." she added, smiling sadly at the irony of the situation.

"True; I too would've preferred our friendship to start with the comforts of home, but where the tides of fortune take us, no one can know." Evelyn sighed looking around the cell they were in. "Last time I was on a Klingon ship, I was welcomed as a guest...today, a prisoner."

Heavy boots marched with weight on the metal grills that made up the floors, the weighty clang with each step pleased K'Nara though her task was in some ways a dark one. While she had been unsuccessful in her main goal, the cards that had been drawn were not bad. Project Sienna was still on that tiny Federation vessel, as was most of the information she wanted. However, the prisoners she had taken were proving useful, to an extent. The ones that were still alive anyway. She shot a glare at one of the guards of the cell block as he opened the door that she had stopped at. The ship was dark, this part especially so. The stale smell of life smelt good to her, though the two creatures inside weren't Klingon. El-Aurian's were a race of troublemakers that could barely tell a good story, the Orions were almost worthless thieves and rogues, the females even more so. Even if they had become Starfleet officers K'Nara had no respect for them. Still capturing two captains was something of merit, maybe enough to have a verse or two in a ballad.

Blocking out most of the light that struggled to enter the cell she stood in the doorway, the drop floor of the cell itself making her seem even taller. The two below didn't even look like warriors to her, not even standing or trying to escape, she might have respected that. Instead they were cowering, they were right to fear her. With a firm voice, less guttural than her conversation during the battle she ordered, "Stand!" Her arms resting on her hips.

The distinctive sound of Klingon boots clamping against the ground was an impossible sound to ignore, and Lirha sat up straighter as she heard the sound of someone approaching. Though the room was dark, she was able to identify the woman as soon as she entered the room. K'Nara. The Orion furrowed her brow in anger as the Klingon captain barked orders at her, yet made no effort to move from her current and comforting position next to Evelyn. "Do you have any idea what you have done?!" Lirha quipped angrily in response, her voice still a bit weak. "Release me and my crew at once!"

The glower grew darker, they were in no position to demand anything. K'Nara remained quiet for a few seconds before more gruffly replying with, "Do you know what you have done? I am preserving the future of the Klingon Empire, the future of this quadrant." If the Federation controlled this weapon, war was inevitable. Billions would die on all sides, better to stop it now than at such a cost. Then in answer K'Nara lied with a straight face, "Your ship is under my control, most of your crew is dead, the rest soon will be unless you cooperate." Letting that linger she repeated, "Stand!"

Evelyn was observing K'Nara's demeanor and decided to comply. She pushed herself up against the wall, and stood tall. "Captain K'Nara, if you wanted more of the Bloodwine from my collection, all you had to do was ask."

Lirha followed the lieutenant's lead and slowly managed to get to her feet with the help of a supportive arm. She wobbled slightly at first, cringing at the twinges of discomfort in her body, then steadied herself against the wall.

K'Nara took two steps to the side and motioned for one of the guards to approach. Pointing at Evelyn she flicked her hand towards the door, "You will be escorted elsewhere, go." The joke wasn't lost on her, but this wasn't funny, it was the grim start. As per the plan, separating the two of them was the first step. The challenge was to keep them off balance, that would make this successful.

"Oh joy." Evelyn said as she saw the guards. "Well Captain," she turned to Lirha, "I'll see you later." she winked. The guards quickly cuffed her wrists together and strongly suggest she gets walking. She stopped right next to K'Nara, "I'll try to make sure what happened that night...stays secret." Evelyn whispered before resuming her walk out of the cell.

K'Nara stood still and waited until the childish woman was out of ear shot. She looked at Lirha with cold eyes, sizing her up. The way she held herself, what her injuries where, what she was thinking. It was time, taking a step forward into the cell K'Nara motioned for the guard to stand nearby. Staying just beyond arms length she seemed rather calm, "Tell me, what do you know of Sienna?"

The Starfleet captain watched angrily as Evelyn was led out of the holding cell. She clenched her jaw, knowing the torture that was probably in store for her intel chief, and herself. The Orion's cold green yes turned towards the Klingon woman in front of her, and she took a purposefully lengthy moment of silence before finally responding. "More than you, apparently." she quipped, side-stepping the question.

K'Nara remained calm, restrain was a rare quality that she had developed for situations like this. All she wanted to do was to break the insolent woman's cheekbone though, maybe later. Furrowed brow remaining still she replied, "I wouldn't waste my time. The longer you take the more your crew will suffer, the more will die. I hope your conscience is prepared for that before you squander more."

Lirha shook her head slowly then spoke quietly in almost perfect Klingon, a result of the impressive lingual skills picked up during her youth spent trading throughout the Beta quadrant. "You know I won't tell you about Sienna." she responded, then paused for a moment. "Show me the rest of my crew, return us to our ship, and then maybe I will consider opening the proper diplomatic channels for shared research." she added rather stubbornly. Though Lirha was worried about the safety of her crew, she had not been shown any proof of additional prisoners other than Evelyn, and despite her concern for her, could not violate her orders from Starfleet and disclose the nature of the experiment.

If it was how she preferred, "If you ever intended to share with us, you would have already told us about a project on our boarders. You wouldn't find it very easy to breath on your bridge anyway." As for the examples of the crew, there were different layers that she could use here. Pain could be added later, torture was complex, a proficiency she disliked. Her hand moving to the communicator on her left arm she pressed a few buttons. She'd expected this to come up, "Holding cell seven, live feed, " What played was a series of screams and cries from one of the crew of the Petersham. Someone that was long since dead.

Now with a small smile K'Nara added, "So you admit to knowing about Sienna, we can work from there. Or would you like to hear more?" At the very least there were many hours of torture that she could call up to play.

The sudden sound of torturous activities and screams caused Lirha to wince, and she bit down on her lower lip as she attempted to focus and block out the sound. She couldn't identify the person by voice but prayed that he was not one of her crew. It was unlikely. And even if he wasn't, he was still a person being tormented. She could not put that upon anyone, yet her orders were clear. The Orion herself had served as an intelligence chief, and had been specifically chosen to command Galileo on her maiden voyage...to protect Sienna. She knew she could not falter at the first tough decision. "Only a coward would torture other people with no way to defend themselves." she replied angrily, staring into K'Nara's brown eyes.

Raising her eyebrow, K'Nara played another series of pained screams that gave way to whimpers. Her face otherwise remaining solid, "Only a coward develops a weapon like Sienna." However brave and honourable a warrior, the Empire couldn't stand against an enemy that could move at will through space in minutes. Force alone wouldn't protect the Empire, "Anything I do, you force me to, I don't want to. I know you would do the very same in my position."

"The very same?!" she yelled incredulously, reverting back to Federation Standard. She had spoken the Klingon woman's uncharming language for long enough and it was clear it would get her no where. "You are mad, I would never cause another person harm against their will. I'm a Starfleet officer, not a sociopath." the captain scoffed.

Naive woman, K'Nara crossed her arms, "So you would let the Klingon Empire control a weapon that allowed them to attack any planet in the Federation at will. You would do nothing?" For all their talk of peace and friendship, the Federation would protect itself and its people. It was proven time and again. Her tone still flat, "If this could be solved in battle, I would. Though it pains me, if I have to kill hundreds of defenceless people to save billions, I will. The fault rests on your shoulders," K'Nara took a step to the left, "Would you like to see the cost of your arrogance?"

"Sienna is not a weapon, no more so than warp drive is!" Lirha replied scathingly to the stubborn Klingon captain. The green-skinned commander did not take well to being kidnapped, let alone abused and threatened, and it enraged her already-boiling temper. "Killing my crew makes you a murderer. Torturing them, and me, makes you a coward!" she reiterated, trying to block out the thoughts of what K'Nara was about to do. "You would kill hundreds...thousands, out of some false belief with no evidence?"

That was progress. The captain had revealed that she knew Sienna was an engine, it was chipping away like this, painfully slowly that results would be found. With a smile again K'Nara replied, "You just proved it to me, that Sienna is exactly what I know it is and that you know of it." Leaving her example for a little while she added, "You would rather the Federation and the Empire engage in the bloodiest war the quadrant has ever seen? That makes you bloodthirsty, what we are doing here today is for the greater good." Holding her position K'Nara turned away for a second, "If you tell me what I need to know to prevent a war then no one else has to suffer. I will destroy Sienna, you have my word."

Lirha shook her head again before quietly responding. "You will not destroy Sienna because I will tell you nothing." she said simply, then folded her hands gingerly across her chest somewhat defiantly.

"You will, it is just a matter of time," K'Nara took a step backwards out of the room and reached a strong right arm out of sight. Several long seconds passed before she returned but not alone. A tall Bolian was dragged in front of her, his face had bruised and swollen in several places. Some of them had split and blue blood trickled down his face. The yellow and black of his uniform was also torn and bloody, his eyes panicked. K'Nara forced him to his knees just inside the cell and drew her dagger. This man didn't know anything else, he had already told them everything he had. If he didn't have a use here, K'Nara might have let him live with his shame.

Petty Officer Troxx's tall and slim build was unmistakable to the Orion captain and her eyes went wide as she watched him be hauled into the room in a beaten and abused state. As K'Nara drew her weapon, fury quickly built inside of Lirha and she moved forward in an attempt to protect her crewman from harm. "Noo!" she yelled as she stepped forward to try and stop the Klingon. In her weakened state, she tried to grab K'Nara's weapon but instead crashed clumsily into her, knocking them both back.

Klingons were built like tanks, layers of reinforced bone and muscle gave them much for mass than most humanoids. K'Nara grew up as a warrior, she had also expected this from the moment she entered the room. Her reaction was efficient as the green body fell against her. Her right hand thrust forward with the rounded butt of the dagger into the Orion's abdomen. The left first lurched hard, throwing the off balance Bolian back against the wall behind her. Then it came up for a massive blow to the side of the other woman's face.

A gasp escaped her mouth and Lirha doubled over as the hard metal of the knife's hilt was slammed into her belly. Pain erupted throughout her abdomen as she dropped to her knees, unable to breathe, then looked up just in time to see K'Nara's brown fist connect with the side of her face. The blow snapped Lirha's head to the side and a loud ringing sensation echoed through her ears as she lost her balance and fell to the ground. Slowly, she tried to regain her composure and stand.

K'Nara cracked a knuckle with her thumb, look of wild delight flashing across her face for a few seconds. This was the sort of thing in life that got her heart to throb and her blood to boil. In silence she watched the other woman attempt to stand, it was pathetic really. This situation would be resolved in only one way, the longer it took the more people suffered and died.

It took a few moments but the Orion regained her balance and finally stood. She brought her hand up to nose, feeling a warm sensation dripping down her upper lip, and took note of the slick copper blood which appeared on her fingers. "You think your brutality will get you access to Sienna?" she said quietly, then defiantly spat a glob of blood from her mouth onto K'Nara's face. At least if she could distract the Klingon captain and keep her preoccupied, her crewman might have a chance to live. Beyond that, her hopes were slim.

K'Nara glowered, wiping the blood away with the back of her free hand. She would not be goaded, "I don't want it to be, you don't give me much choice, Captain." In return K'Nara stepped back and grasping the other crew member behind the neck drew her blade in a long cut across his cheek. Letting it pool for a few seconds she flicked it in the direction of the green woman.

Blue blood from the Bolian engineering officer splattered across her neck and chest, and Lirha stiffened while swallowing a lump in her throat. "Don't hurt him...he has done nothing wrong!" she pleaded, "Take me instead, if you want to hurt someone." she offered.

K'Nara rolled her eyes, maybe her punch had killed a few brain cells. How many times did she had to tell this woman, or was she playing with her? Regardless, she remained steady, she didn't want to hurt anyone, she was forced to. Her tone was colder again now, "He can't tell me what I want, not that I want to hurt anyone, captain." K'Nara slid the knife closer to his throat, watching with interest to see what the effects of corrosive Bolian blood would do to skin.

The ethics debate with the Klingon was pointless, and had deteriorated into a circular argument. With nothing left to say, Lirha waited in suspended horror as she watched in slow motion what was about to happen. Her green eyes met the Bolian's gold ones, and her facial expressions twisted into sorrow and deep sadness. "...I'm so sorry..." she whispered to him with defeat, in a barely audible voice, then looked towards the floor in shame as the inevitable finally occurred.

The look on her face was stoic, the action mechanical and slow. Tearing back the man's head with her left the blade slit viciously from side to side. He let out a wimpier that gave way as the blue blood spilled and bubbled. His body fell limp and K'Nara looked up disgusted that the woman couldn't look him in the eye, "How many more people are you going to kill before I get my answer?" With that she left, leaving the body and the woman to consider her position.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Captain K'Nara of the House of Torath
Commanding Officer
IKS Na'vi

LTJG Evelyn Coleman
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

PO1 Erlohn Troxx
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo
K.I.A.

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