"Why are we not at the Voyager already?" Up demanded harshly when he walked into the control room. Only Specs was brave enough to look at Up in the eye.
"Sir, the amount of force it would take to reach the command ship at the time you want is astronomical," she said, her voice getting higher at the end of her sentence. She pushed her huge, round glasses up her nose nervously.
"I don't care, Specs. I want to be there in three minutes. Do what you have to do." With that, Up spun on the heel of his boot and headed back to the main cabin, securing his belt and shoulder clips that held all of his important objects over his brawny body. His fingers shook violently and it took a few deep breaths before he could buckle every strap.
"Commander Up, we'll be docking at the Voyager in two minutes, I've figured out-" Up silenced Specs. His patience was growing thin and he didn't have time for long winded explanations. But he was grateful for Specs' hard work, so he decided to reward her.
"I don't care how you did it, but good job. Make sure that you're in the conference room when we're coming up with a rescue mission, Specs, we're going to need you." Up could see that his words had an effect on her; Specs' cheeks turned a rosy shade and then she stumbled off, clearly shocked. Up felt a slight lurch of the pod as it docked in the ship. The doors opened moments later, Up rushed out and into the conference room.
The Admiral had never seen Up as upset as he was at that moment. From the moment that the Commander had entered the room, his eyes wild and his motions frenzied, the Admiral knew that this was not going to be an ordinary rescue attempt.
"Admiral, I need all the resources you can spare and an army of Rangers," Up demanded. The Admiral looked his Commander squarely in the eye, studying the soldier for a moment and then turned to the ship's second in command, Lieutenant Avery.
"Lieutenant, please brief the Commander's team on our ideas thus far. I need to have a word with Commander Up." The lanky Lieutenant nodded and Up frowned, but went along as the Admiral took him back to his office.
"Up, I know that this is hard for you-" the Admiral began.
"With all due respect sir, you don't know a damn thing about what this is like for me." Now it was the Admiral's turn to frown.
"I do, Up. Your love for Taz was a secret only to her, don't think that the rest of us didn't know about it." Up's ears burned, chagrin washing throughout his body. He didn't think that it was so obvious. "Oh don't look so surprised, soldier. She might have been blind but the rest of us saw the way you looked at her. So yes, I know that this is hard for you. But you're going to have to pull yourself together, Commander." The Admiral sounded fatherly. "You're a Starship Ranger and you're going to get this job done. But only if you pull yourself together. Now get back in there and show all those Rangers what a true Commander acts like!" Up took five deep breaths and thought about what the Admiral had said. Finally, he nodded and stood up.
"You're right." The Admiral smiled somberly and the pair walked back to the conference room, Up's resolve bigger than ever. *****************************************************************************
Taz's mouth filled with blood as the robot's hand slapped across her worn face. It throbbed intensely, as did the metal chains that tied her hands, feet and body to the cold chair.
"Tell us where the information is kept, hu-mahn." The look that Taz gave her captor was harsh and unforgiving.
"You might want to give up now, you hijo de puta, I'll never tell you where it is." The monotone laugh of the robot filled the room.
"You will. Soon. Goodnight, you puny hu-mahn. I'll be back in the morning." The robot left and Taz was all alone. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, exhausted from the torture that she had been subjected to for the past three months.
The night was frigid and Taz did the only thing she could to take her mind off of her impending death: she thought of Up. She thought of his beautiful, sea glass blue eyes. His messy brown hair that begged her to run her fingers through it. His arms that had so often wrapped themselves around her small frame, making her feel protected and safe, like nothing could ever hurt her. She thought about the sense of comfort that only he could give her. How they could just sit around, watching the Karate Kid and yet she'd feel completely content.
When the pain was especially bad, like it was tonight, she imagined those arms around her again. She imagined burying her head in the crook of his neck and breathing in his intoxicating smell. She imagined laying her head down on his chest and listening to the beating of his heart. She imagined feeling his torso rise up and down, soothing her slowly into a deep sleep.
Tonight Taz's memories took her back to Up, back to his arms, and they lulled her softly to sleep.