Blank Space
By Laura Schiller
Based on Star Trek: Voyager
Copyright: Paramount
"Darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream." – Taylor Swift, "Blank Space"
The argument began over something small, as usual. Some minor policy matter involving the fleet. But when Kashyk started to lecture, slicing his hand through the air like a kitchen knife, looking down that handsome nose at her like she didn't know the first thing about how to wage a war – like she hadn't ruled the Neyser with her companions long before the Devore crawled out of their caves – the entity calling itself Meegan had enough.
"You think you're invincible, don't you? Well, watch this."
The painting was new. Commissioned to celebrate a recent victory in what Kashyk's government called the Freethinkers' War (the Devore telepaths had called it genocide), it showed him standing on the bridge of his starship, his armada glittering through the viewport like silver stars, his black leather uniform decked with medals. Meegan altered her holographic body with a thought, growing her nails sharp and long. Then she tore the painting to ribbons.
Kashyk lunged to stop her, but the rest of her body was transparent. He fell through her, overbalanced, and had to catch himself on his desk.
"You're only flesh and blood, you know, darling," she said – calmly, even sweetly, in a voice custom-made for opera and kindness. "You can be destroyed as easily as this." She flicked a thread of canvas off her fingers.
Kashyk's face twisted with satisfying fear and rage, but only for a moment. Then he straightened up, placed one hand on the wall next to her, leaned a little closer, and put on his most predatory smile. As if she couldn't see the pulse in his neck beating like a hammer.
"You're enchanting when you're angry, my dear Meegan," he purred. "But, like it or not, you need me. You've been asleep in your cylinder for thousands of years. I'm the one who knows how the modern world works, and I'm the one my fleet will follow. You wouldn't break our alliance on account of a few hasty words, would you? Not when it's been so ... "
She solidified to feel his hands pinning her to the wall, his hot breath on her face, his mouth fastening on hers. She could feel the triumph coursing through him, believing he had power over her, that he had won the argument. When in fact, he'd overlooked a small but crucial detail.
It was his name, his body, and his reputation the Devore army would follow … but he didn't have to be the one who used them.
Even as she closed her eyes and melted into the kiss, Meegan felt like laughing. She had seven comrades hidden in their cylinders, and she knew just how to begin setting them free.
Tonight, my darling. I'm replacing you tonight.