That rough hand was back on Samandak's arm. She was growing quite tired of this treatment.
"When we call your captain again," Torak said, sharply. "I want you to beg for him to surrender his ship."
"I will not." She replied flatly. It was taking all of her self control not to haul off and punch this man who called himself a captain, and even more of some hidden willpower to remain cool and collected. She could see that Spock was having an easier time with it, he must be more used to these situations. Well, good for him, she thought.
She had to catch herself.
Why was she thinking like that? It must have been all the hostility in the room. Every Klingon on this entire ship was emanating hate and malice, and it occurred to her that that may have been what was causing her nightmares the previous few nights.
No no, she'd been having those nightmares for weeks!
Unless...
A creepy feeling invaded Samandak's mind, and she shook it off. Their best hope at that moment was that Captain Kirk had a good plan.
"Then you," Torak snaked over to Spock. "Tell your captain to surrender."
"I will not, either." Spock carried the same flat tone, and it was obviously working onto the captain's nerves. In one swift movement, he struck the first officer with the back of his hand. Christine flinched visibly, but Spock hardly seemed affected, even as a green welt began to form on his cheek.
Samandak's anger only boiled up more, giving her more root not to give this man what he wanted.
"Then we will do things my way." Torak looked over at his helmsman—or, woman, in this case. "How much time, Karakul?"
"Three minutes, sir."
"Good. You three, up here." He shoved Christine toward about where the communications camera would hit, and Samandak and Spock automatically followed, both overwhelmed with the instinct to protect their shipmate. "Listen to me," He lowered his voice, taking on a threatening tone. "When the communication begins, very unpleasant things are going to happen unless my requests are met."
"I'm beginning to think you are bluffing." Samandak informed him, crossing her arms. She was tired of playing unemotional, she wanted him to know the extent of her anger. Which, all things considered, was actually quite mild. Taking after her grandmother on her father's side, her emotions could reach intensely dangerous levels.
It was her who was struck next, followed by an irritated "Silence!" She had half the self-control as Spock, and couldn't hold back a healthy glare.
"Captain, it's time for the next transmission."
Torak straightened and turned about to face the monitor. In a few more moments, the image of Captain Kirk appeared; it was a welcome sight.
"Ah, Captain Kirk. Have you considered my offer?"
Completely ignoring the Klingon, Kirk leaned forward and looked past him at the three members of his crew. "Spock, are you all alright?"
"We are fine, captain." Spock replied. Samandak envied his ability to remain absolutely calm, even mask his emotions to the point of absolutely undetectable.
"Captain Kirk, my patience wears thin!" Torak cut in, stepping in front of Spock in an irritated fashion.
"We can see that." McCoy was back there too, with the appearance of backing up the captain. Samandak was sure, however, that he was merely checking in on Christine, making sure his head nurse was unharmed.
Kirk crossed his arms, obviously having the same feelings about the situation as Samandak; what if he was bluffing? "I've considered your offer...and to me, it doesn't seem like much of an offer."
Torak had it up to the top. He motioned toward one of his guards. "K'ratak, fulfill your orders."
"Yes captain." He stepped up behind the group and shoved Spock forward. "On your knees, Vulcan."
When Spock remained standing, K'ratak delivered a swift blow to the inside of his knees with the butt of a long weapon, and the first officer crumpled to the floor, but somehow managed to do so in a dignified fashion. Samandak closed her eyes and willed herself not to interfere, she knew she could only make things worse. Christine was clenching her hands together, her knuckles white with tension.
Spock received a blow to the side of the neck in the same manner, and went the rest of the way down, looking as if he found it difficult to breath.
Caught in a fit of rage, Samandak let out what was nearly a scream and launched at K'ratak. It was for naught, as she was caught back by two other guards, who cuffed her hands behind her back and yanked her away from the platform.
Torak laughed. "Your insolence amuses me, doctor, but it will not be tolerated."
"Go to Hell." Samandak spat, completely lost on any composure that she once had.
"Get up." K'ratak shoved Spock with his boot, and the first officer somehow managed to pull himself to his hands and knees, then stood up, shakily.
Christine pushed past the guard and grabbed Spock by the arm, helping him steady himself. "Are you alright?!"
"I am not damaged." He replied, but they both knew that all that meant was that he would heal eventually. Anger burned in his eyes, even if he hid it well with the rest of his body. Anger and pain both, but also some form of fear...the kind of fear that was not for yourself, but for someone else.
"You have another thirty minutes to consider this, Captain Kirk." Torak took a dramatic step toward the viewer. "I know much about you, James T. Kirk. I know that this Spock is your good friend, and you would gladly sacrifice the world to see no harm come to him." His glare intensified. "I am hoping that you will sacrifice your ship to the same end. After all, I loose nothing by his death." He motioned to Karakul, who cut the transmission.
"Put them all in cuffs," Torak growled. "And throw them back into their cell."
"Shall we attack, captain?"
"No! I want that ship intact. Why are they still on my bridge?"
-----
Kirk sat back down in his chair, gripping at the armrests with such force they might come off.
"Jim?" McCoy seemed only slightly less temperamental, probably because of the types of pressures the situation involved.
"I'm fine Bones." He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Scotty, anything?"
"Not a thing, captain." Scott replied. He was going over the only set of Klingon interior plans that they had, and they weren't for a battle cruiser, they were for a trade ship. He was sure they were very different, and was having the ship scanned now, but it could be another hour before they had anything useful. Judging from what he'd just heard, they didn't have another hour.
"I can't just leave them over there, Bones." Kirk said, looking tired and defeated. "But we can't just surrender, not to them. They'd only treat more people like that."
"Scotty'll come up with something." McCoy assured him. "Besides, Spock can take care of himself, and those girls, too."
Kirk covered his face with both hands. "I know, I know." He stood up, and started walking about the bridge, checking each station, as he had a tendency to do when he wasn't sure what his next step should be. It would help if he just wasn't so tired...oh that ridiculous rash! He scratched at his shoulder in annoyance.
-----
Samandak had wriggled about enough to slip her hands under her feet and up in front of her, and Spock sat leaned up against the opposite wall, watching her fume and pace back and forth. She'd dropped all of her previous self control, and he wondered if she'd dropped it because she wanted to, or because she couldn't keep it up. Christine looked like she was on the verge of tears, and that seemed to be rubbing off on Samandak in that strange human way.
She plopped down on the ground. "This is so frustrating, they don't have any right to do this."
"That is why we call them criminals." Spock remarked.
Samandak threw him an exasperated look, that was quickly clouded with a look of intense fear mixed with anger and...something else. She immediately turned to Christine. "Are you alright?"
"Me? I'm fine...why?"
"You're giving off very bad vibes."
"Of course I am!" She hit the floor with her fists, chains clinking loudly as an irritating reminder of their situation. "Look at what they did to you—look at what they did to Spock!"
Samandak looked at him sadly, and he figured that there must be a fully formed bruise on his neck and shoulder by this point. It did hurt, a lot, but that seemed to be the least of their problems. Nurse Chapel was on the verge of an emotional breakdown, and Samandak wasn't doing much better...but she was going in the opposite direction.
"It's time for the next transmission." Tatell was at the door again, keys jangling. And he looked irritated. An irritated Klingon was never a good sign. Rather than taking them back to the bridge, however, the three were shoved into the next room over, where Captain Torak was standing impatiently with a few more guards. They'd set up a communications station on the prison level, it would seem. Christine paled, and he followed her eyes across the room.
Apparently, Torak and Kirk had already been arguing, and Torak was steaming. "No funny stuff, Kirk! You try anything, and the blond one dies."
Samandak just seemed to grow tenser, like she was feeding off of the negativity in the room. A hand was on Spock's shoulder suddenly, shoving him toward the viewer.
Torak smirked devilishly, and grabbed Spock's arm and yanked him forward. "Captain Kirk, do you see your first officer? Everyone on the bridge of the Enterprise, do you see Commander Spock?"
"We see him, Torak." Kirk said, tensely.
"Good. K'ratak?"
The obnoxious man from earlier nodded. He stepped forward and took the chain between the cuffs on Spock's wrists, yanked it as a signal to follow, and stepped into the back of the room, still in view of the camera. He attached the chain to a high-up hook on the wall, and Spock was left with his back facing the room.
There was a sound, like something leather being removed from a table, and a thick, disgusting laughing sound. "Well, Captain Kirk? It is now decision time."
Samandak's frightened voice came from the side of the room. "No!"
Uh oh, another cliffhanger! Haha, I'm addicted to cliffhangers I'm afraid. Anyway, there will be a bit of violence in the next chapter...it's not gory, but it may be offensive to some parties.
ENJOY! XD
