Hello! I am definitely still at it here, with no plans of stopping. I'm just a little...slow. Part of the problem at the moment is that I really, really want to get to a part that is a couple of chapters down (and I've already written a lot of it), so that I can "be there" instead of here. ;) It's coming along.
I sincerely appreciate those of you who are still reading, and all the helpful feedback! My apologies if you've sent me a message and I haven't responded yet. Marathon training is taking up a lot of my time, and any fannish time I do have these days, I've been trying to plug away at my two WIPs. :) But know that I appreciate you and hope to connect with you soon!
Nine
By the time they reached the sickroom, Kathryn had developed a fair sense for the layout of the ship. From her inverted position en route, she'd craned her neck to look around, noting doors and corridors as they went.
She was thinking over the mental map she'd constructed, filling in the gaps with her best guesses, when they passed through a wide door. Suddenly, she found herself upright on what appeared to be an examination table.
Free from her captor's hold, Kathryn instinctively drew away, sliding back on the table and preparing to defend herself.
A lot of good it would do, considering the man's size and strength, but she was not about to willingly submit to whatever it was he had planned.
Ignoring her, he stepped back and away from the table — this gave Kathryn an unobstructed view of her surroundings, and her gaze was immediately drawn across the room, where she spotted a pair of surgical beds.
Her breath stopped short in her chest when she registered that they were not empty.
Two women, whose species Kathryn did not know, were laid out — unconscious and restrained, with an array of tubes and wires running from their unclad bodies to nearby…machinery.
Kathryn's pulse soared as a new, cold fear filled her.
She looked around for a weapon, a way to escape — anything — but she was trapped. The brute of a man who'd carried her here didn't seem to notice her sudden panic — either that, or it didn't concern him. He was rummaging around in a drawer next to the table, mumbling something she could not discern.
"What's wrong with them?!" She demanded.
He looked up from what he was doing and merely stared at her, his face expressionless, before returning to his task.
After a moment, he pulled out a device — A scanner? A weapon? Whatever it was, Kathryn slid back even more, distancing herself from the object as much as she could. She searched again, desperately, for a means of escape.
He eyed her, and she put her hands up. "Don't touch me."
He moved in and waved the device around, ignoring her protests.
"Get away from me!" She batted at the object with her hands, and felt a surge of satisfaction when she knocked it loose and sent it flying across the room.
The man sighed. "I can't treat your injuries if I don't know what they are," he said simply, and, it seemed, without anger.
"Those women," she gestured at them, and the torturous-looking devices to which they were connected. "What's wrong with them?!"
"It's not your concern."
"What's wrong with them?!"
He sighed again. "I need to see to your injuries."
He took a couple of steps away and turned to retrieve the device, and that was all Kathryn needed. She leapt off the bench and ran to the door in what seemed like one quick motion. Frantically, she punched at the nearby keypad, but nothing happened.
Another sigh from the man, and then Kathryn was airborne, draped over the his shoulder like a blanket. He dumped her back on the table.
"You're lucky he's not down here."
Kathryn pulled away and eyed him, her face firm - something she found much easier to muster now that there were other, presumably innocent lives at stake.
"What. Happened. To. Those. Women?!"
He punched some buttons on the scanning device and considered her.
"They had a bad reaction."
"To what? Drugs?"
"Among other things." He shrugged, and Kathryn felt a chill run up her spine at his nonchalance.
"Will they recover?"
He looked over at them for a moment, and then back at Kathryn. "Maybe. Maybe not."
She studied his face. "I didn't have the reaction," she said evenly, hoping that by stating it like something she already knew, he'd indirectly confirm or deny what had happened to her. How she got here.
"No, you were textbook."
She stared at him in silence, taking in this new information — and that she was not the only captive here — and after a moment he held up the device again. She recoiled.
He drew the object back, and then abruptly shoved it into her hand. "Scan yourself, then."
Kathryn felt the weight of the device in her palm as she continued to stare at the man, trying to read him. His arms were now crossed over his chest, but otherwise, he did not seem to display anger or aggressiveness of any kind.
She glanced the surgical tables and their occupants out of the corner of her eye, and felt her fear and anger coalescing into the fiery inner strength she'd come to rely on in dire circumstances. Built from life experiences and her years in Starfleet, it channeled her fear into a more useful energy, forced out hopelessness, and put her mind on a problem-solving track.
There's a solution here — I will find it.
The man before her had demonstrated he was not an inherently cruel person — at least, not when compared to his partner. She needed to work this to her advantage somehow.
Regarding the beastly humanoid before her, she asked, "are you a doctor?" She was certain he wasn't, but it was better for her cause to pretend she thought him someone of stature.
He chuckled lightly and shook his head. "No. The doctor…he's no longer with us."
Not bothering to consider what that meant, she held up the scanner. "But you've trained in some way, to perform a doctor's duties?"
"I picked up a few things over the years." He shrugged and uncrossed his arms, then held out a hand, palm open. "How about you let me scan you now?"
She hesitated, but in the name of building trust and obtaining more information, she handed the device back.
He tapped a serious of buttons on a panel next to the exam station, then began running the wand back and forth about six inches from Kathryn's torso.
"What's your name?"
He didn't answer right away, focusing his attention instead on the panel that was presumably displaying data on Kathryn's physical well-being.
He punched a few more buttons, and, without looking away from the display, he said, "Colvin. From Senis IV."
"What were you doing on Koldera Minor?"
He regarded her now, seeming to consider the possible motives for her inquiry, but ultimately he either didn't care or wasn't concerned, because a moment later he answered. "Business, as always."
"You and…Merv. Your business is the trafficking of female humanoids."
Reading from the panel, Colvin announced, "you have a lot of bruising around your ribs, lacerations on your legs and back, a laryngeal hematoma, moderately severe dehydration, and a mild concussion."
She nodded, unsurprised by the list, and more than a little relieved there wasn't more to it.
"We can fix you up easily enough." He stepped away to search for some tools. Kathryn stayed put this time.
He returned with something that loosely resembled a dermal regenerator. "It will take longer through the fabric," he said, and Kathryn tensed. But he simply went about attending her wounds, starting with those on her legs, apparently not minding the extra effort that would be required.
He certainly didn't seem like a man who regularly abducted and sold women for a living. Kathryn knew there had to be more to his story than a simple partnership with Merv.
She was lost in her thoughts about it when he spoke again. "It didn't used to be this way. We used to trade machinery. Engine parts. Things like that. But there's more money in the slave business. A lot more." He glanced up at her, and then back down to her leg, where he steadily held the healing device. Well versed in reading people, the brief turn was enough for her to catch the remorse in his eyes.
"How long have you…" She hesitated, she realized, because she was looking for a diplomatic way to describe his business. There wasn't one, but the sensibilities of Janeway-the-negotiator had instinctively kicked in.
He knew what she meant, and didn't hesitate to answer. "Almost three revolutions. It was supposed to be a one-time thing, but the money was too good."
"You like having a lot of money," she hazarded, stating the obvious in her dig for more information.
"I owe a lot of money," he said. He switched to her other leg and started the healing process at her ankle. "I'm close, though. One day soon, I will be my own man again. In fact, if Merv's assessment is correct, you'll have me nearly paid in full."
Kathryn shuddered internally, but not so much for herself as for the idea of undertaking years of heinous crime in the name of settling up.
"Why me?"
"Because…you're more than just an…attractive specimen." He didn't look up, but Kathryn thought she saw his face redden slightly. "It was obvious from across the room — he picked you out right away. Your intellect. And once we learned your profession, your skill set…"
"I'm flattered," she said wryly.
"This one is deep," he said, gesturing to her left thigh.
"I could have told you that."
He nodded, punched a series of buttons on the tool, and re-applied it above her wound. "You could do almost anything, anywhere — any job, any role. That makes you extremely valuable."
"I'm 'extremely valuable' to my crew," she said. "We're trying to get home…" Her throat tightened as the emotions surfaced, but she forced it back with practiced skill. "I'm certain they're looking for me."
"No doubt. But they're not going to find us out here, beyond the portal."
Her heart sank, but she remained resolute. "They are very resourceful."
"We know — that's why we came this way. It'll take longer, and it's more dangerous out here, but it's the best option, considering."
Kathryn nearly jumped out of her skin when the ship's comm lit up and Merv's voice boomed above her head.
"Are you about finished down there?"
Colvin rushed to the nearest terminal to respond. "Yeah, yeah — almost done."
"Hurry it up. We're nearing the Casus Belt."
Colvin nodded to himself, and Kathryn felt a rush of panic as she realized her time might be running out.
He began to work on her other injuries, and she sought to keep him talking.
"What will happen to me?" She asked, allowing some of her fear and sadness into her voice.
"You'll be sold to our contact. I don't know any more beyond that."
"What about them?" She gestured to the surgical beds.
He followed her gaze across the room and shrugged. "They've already been converted. They won't fetch that much, but they'll be useful to someone as test subjects."
Kathryn shook her head. "Doesn't it bother you? Doing this to people?"
He was silent for an extended moment as he administered a treatment on her neck injury.
"I try not to think about it."
She flinched as a sharp pain shot down her back. He drew the device away, and put his other hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about that. Your anatomy is similar to ours, but there are some differences."
She nodded her understanding, but felt tears stinging her eyes as the pain and her emotions connected, threatening to shatter her equilibrium. She took a breath to compose herself, but the tears slipped down her cheeks and onto Colvin's arm.
He glanced briefly at his arm and then returned to treating her. She willed calm into her body as the pain in her neck and back subsided.
"I don't like doing this," he said, avoiding eye contact. "But I have no choice."
"Oh, there's always choice," she said easily - words she lived by.
"Not where I come from."
He handed her a small cloth, and she used it to dry her cheeks.
"What is the Casus Belt?"
He watched her wipe the tears, sympathy not lacking in his expression. "It's a region of dense interstellar matter that we have to pass through to reach our destination."
"And you have to help Merv navigate?"
"You got it. We had some issues last time." He made a final pass over her with the scanner. "Do you feel better?"
She nodded. "I'm thirsty, though. And hungry."
"Alright, come on. I'll get you set up in a cell, and then we'll take care of it." He gestured for her to come down from the table, and she was surprised that he was apparently going to allow her to walk under her own power.
Sure enough, he made for the door, and then turned back and motioned for her to follow.
Kathryn's mind began working, frantically considering options, a plan of action, that might lead to her escape. She followed him into the corridor, knowing that whatever she was going to do, she had to do it soon.
