A/N: Aight, finally, chapter three! Sorry that took so long, School decided it should start. This is also a bit short, but it works the way it is. Enjoy!
Chapter Three
Imprisoned
"You are not Kirk." The voice was familiar, and Kyle blinked his eyes open, half expecting an Enterprise crew member to be standing before him. Instead, he found himself looking up into the face of a very angry Romulan. "Who are you?" And he remembered the voice from before, when he was hiding under the rock; the Commander who had spoken with the Tenairan.
"Kyle, John Thomas. Lieutenant, Junior Grade," Kyle began, but before her could continue, the Romlan's fist collided with his face. His vision blurred as pain shot through his head. He tasted blood and spat to the side, staining the rocky floor beside him.
"A Lieutenant?" the Romulan snarled. Kyle's eyes refocused as the Romulan grabbed his chin and wrenched his head around to look him in the eye. He grimaced, wincing away, but the Romluan's grip was strong. "Where is your ship?" he asked. "Where is Kirk?"
"Kyle, John Thomas," Kyle whispered. "Lieutenant–"
"Shut up!" the Romulan shouted, hitting Kyle again. His vision blurred more, the endges darkening, and he groaned as he felt a trickle of blood on his chin. "You will answer me, where is Kirk?" the Romulan said again.
Kyle swallowed hard, trying to focus his vision, and cleared his throat. "Lieu…Lieutenant, Junior Grade." The fist hit him again and his head slammed back into the wall. He fell sideways, his vision swimming and bile rising in his throat."
"Take him to the ship." He heard the command from somewhere far away, then everything went dark.
He woke in a small room, a white bench beneath him. He rolled onto his side, his head throbbing and his vision blurring for just a moment at the sudden motion. He waited for the pain to fade and his vision to clear before he slowly sat up, biting back a groan. He took in the blank walls and the doorway, most likely blocked by a force field. There was guard standing outside, hands behind his back. A wry smile twitched at Kyle's lips as he realized there was only one – you didn't need to guards for a lowly Liuetenant.
He shook his head to clear it, but nearly blacked out as pain shot through his temples. He took a few deep breaths, counting them, focusing on them, waiting for the pain to subside again so he could see. When he regained his vision, he saw the guard had turned to face him, an amused smirk on his face, and he realized he must have cried out. The guard shook his head and pushed a button on a panel Kyle couldn't see.
"He's awake," he said, then turned back around, hands draped behind his back once again.
Kyle leaned back, taking deep breaths, his eyes closed against the room's bright, clinical light. He knew the guard had called the Commander, and just thinking about the man reminded him of the encounter in the cave and made his head hurt more; so he tried to clear his mind. Maybe if he focused he could find a way out of this – he'd learned enough about brigs from the Academy and Scotty that if he had a few unguarded moments, he was pretty sure he could break out.
But then, where would he go?
Breaking a lock was pretty easy if you knew enough about how it worked, but they were in space, and Kyle was pretty sure that even if he could find the shuttle bay he wouldn't be able to figure out how to fly a Romulan shuttle before they found him again.
He sighed and opened his eyes, staring out the doorway at the wall beyond. It seemed he had gone from one hopeless situation to another, and he started to wonder if he'd ever get back to the Enterprise. From the look of things, he was getting more and more certain that he would not. That he'd die out there in space, with no one to mourn him.
The heavy thud of footsteps drew Kyle out of his thoughts, and the Commander appeared in the doorway. The force field dropped for a moment and he stepped inside. He had changed out of his stiff, gray uniform into darker, looser clothes. Torture clothes, Kyle thought as the Commander surveyed him. But the Commander didn't strike him, didn't order him to be taken to another room for questioning, he just stared. Kyle stared right back, forcing himself not to break eye contact, until, finally, the Commander spoke.
"Can you fix this ship?"
"Excuse me?"
"This ship is a prototype," the Commander explained. "We are having trouble keeping certain key systems operational. If you help us, we will take you back to your ship."
"You just want me to tell you where Kirk is," Kyle said, narrowing his eyes.
The Commander shrugged innocently. "If the Enterprise happens to be your ship, it is hardly my fault."
"You know damn well it's my ship," Kyle said, gesturing to the delta on his chest.
"I suppose I do, yes," the Commander said. "But you want to get home, and we can take you there. If you help us."
"No."
"Pardon?"
"I won't help you."
The Commander pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest, all pretense gone. "We will find Kirk," he said, "and you will both die." With that, he turned on his heel and left, and Kyle closed his eyes again, this time letting go of what little hope he'd had left.
