Tom paced back and forth with the irritation evident in his step. Harry leaned against the wall of the cave, an elbow on his knee and his head in his upright hand. Several others were nearby, clearly nervous as to what was going to happen now that their camp was overrun with hostiles. Salvert stayed nearby, hoping to be able to monitor the ensign's condition, which was still the same.
"Tom, your pacing won't do anything to change what happened."
"I know I just wish I could've gotten you out of here in time. It took us long enough just to find you. We figured they couldn't approach us right away because Catar and Fadru were on the lookout. Even if we knew where to look, we wouldn't have been able to get past their barriers," Tom grunted.
"You couldn't have known that. We didn't know that. If we did, we would have left immediately. Not only that, there were security measures in place and no one thought they could be compromised," Harry called over to him.
Tom returned to his friend's side, placing a comforting hand on Harry's good shoulder. The ensign took a moment before meeting his friend's gaze and gave a weak smile. Gently squeezing, Tom returned the smile. The sound of shuffling near the entrance of the room caught everyone's attention and Tom climbed back to his feet as Fadru, Catar and several others walked in to greet them. Menais stood behind the group, a wide smirk situated upon his pleased face. Salvert climbed to his feet, an upset gaze crossing his features.
"Menais, I have to admit this does not surprise me. You never acclimated to this life like what everyone else did. Do you realize what you've done by helping these men and why now? You could have led them here at any point with the motars," Salvert questioned the man.
"That is true, having access to the motars had provided me with ample chances to allow them to storm this camp but I was biding my time until recently. When these aliens rescued Catar and then it was revealed that they had one of us among them, I knew they weren't to be trusted but did you want to listen to me? No! I knew then that something had to be done! All of you are nothing but monsters to me!" the man yelled back at them.
Salvert took a deep sigh as Fadru stepped up to the group. He gazed over the group of men sitting in the cave until his stare came to that of the ensign and the lieutenant. Grinning, he slowly moved over to the duo. Tom climbed to his feet and stood between his friend and the Tanaschi.
"You will not stop me from getting what I want. I languished over the lost opportunity for a while after it was stolen from me when your friend managed to escaped my clutches days ago. Now, my chance has returned," Fadru replied as he looked past Tom at Harry. "Men, take him."
Tom began to protest as two sets of arms began to grab at him. He helplessly watched as the two others forced his friend to his feet and began to drag him off. Catar watched Tom the entire time, a smile on his face. He crossed his arms as he turned to his superior, an idea forming in his head.
"Fadru, let's take his friend as well. I think it will be much fun to see his reaction when we have our fun with his friend," Catar proposed.
Fadru smiled at the idea before motioning that Tom to be taken as well. The others protested but they were kept at bay as the lieutenant felt himself being dragged off after Harry. He could see his friend hurting and he knew that wherever they were being taken, it wasn't going to get any better. They soon found themselves in a nearby cave which had been since vacated. In the middle of it, a stake with chains had since been pounded into the middle of the room. Harry was forced to stand over them and his ankles were soon manacled to the ground. Tom soon found shackles sitting upon his wrists as he was forced to kneel several feet away from his friend. He felt utterly powerless as he watched Harry stand before him.
"What do you want from us?" Tom demanded.
"Why, the fun I was originally going to have a few days ago before it was rudely taken away from me. Normally, I would have tortured your friend for information regarding this place but since we're already here, it'll just be a matter of pleasure for me. His sensations won't be as bad as what they would have been immediately after the nular gun but they will still be heightened just the same," Fadru explained.
A fellow officer stepped up to Fadru with a large case and an elongated pronged weapon. Opening the case, Fadru inspected its contents for a moment and approved with a nod before grasping the pronged weapon from his subordinate. He lifted it up in front of him, where Tom got a good long look at it. It was a metal rod, a good two feet in length with its middle covered with a form of rubber. The one end pointed upwards with four sharp prongs in a circle that were bouncing with electricity. Tom's heart jumped into his throat as he saw the sparks flutter through the air.
"Hold him," Fadru ordered.
Harry knew it was useless to protest as the two Tanaschi officers forced him to keep standing for the man. He gritted his teeth, preparing for the worst before Fadru drilled the apparatus into his stomach. His body anxiously nerved up at the sensation of electricity coursing through his abdomen. After several long seconds, Fadru finally released and watched as Harry lay limp in their arms, breathing heavily.
"This is going to be too easy. I've barely even started," he smirked.
Walking around the room, Fadru carefully took note of everything the ensign had to offer before slamming the rod in the back of his left knee for several long seconds. Harry gritted his teeth as his leg gave out from underneath him. His mind emptied of every thought as he felt the rod now push itself into his right knee. It took him a while to realize that he was no longer being held up by the officers and he had no idea how much time had actually passed when voices pierced his brain.
"Stop this!"
"Your friend is a monster and he will be treated as such. Don't think I have any qualms about killing him or you either."
Another surge coursed through his prone body, this time coming from his side. He groaned through the pain as he felt his body reacting again to things that he did not want it to react to, never seeing the look of joy on Fadru's face or the look of absolute horror on Tom's face.
"Bring me the case," he ordered.
Catar retrieved the case and revealed its contents to his superior. Fadru rummaged around a bit before picking up a small mechanical device. Out of one side was a strap and out of another, came a wire with a sharp needle with a small hook on its end. Fadru held it up for Tom to see without question.
"This device will be attached behind his genitalia. It will keep his body stimulated for as long as I desire it and don't think this is the last because it's not," the man explained.
He lowered his arm and fully grasped the device in his hand as he stared at the naked body of Ensign Harry Kim on the ground. He grinned as he turned to his men nearby.
"Roll him over."
Tom watched in horror as the Tanaschi moved Harry onto his back. Now laying spread eagle on the ground and barely able to move, Tom stared aghast as Fadru knelt down and violently clenched onto Harry's groin. A cry filled the lieutenant's ears as the device was jammed into his friend's sensitive skin.
00000
"It's been far too long. They should have been in contact by now. It's getting closer to nightfall where they are on the planet and I wouldn't think it would take long for them to get into transporter range."
"Maybe it took them longer to get to the camp on the other end. We don't know how far it was past the barrier. It could have even been miles or Harry could have still been too injured to move. Maybe another circumstance caused them to be delayed."
"I know but still. What's the news about Fadru and Catar?"
"At the moment, I don't know. They heard about what happened at the flower shop and headed there after some scrambling at their office. We were tracking their movements until they inexplicably disappeared soon after they entered the shop."
"Disappeared?"
"Yes, disappeared. The only thing I can figure is that they must have somehow gotten through one of those shields the kayart have that protect their camp. Either that or they've got something to scramble our sensors."
"That's impossible. They'd have to have the same device that was given to Lieutenant Paris unless one of them was a kayart in disguise. If only we could get in contact with somebody that had any sort of news."
Janeway leaned her elbows against the ready room table. Interlocking her fingers, she rested them against her chin. The possibilities of why they hadn't heard anything about Tom or Harry ran through her head. Chakotay watched her with butterflies in his stomach; both he and the captain were uncertain on how they should continue. His thoughts drifted back to when they were on Rysaria and the events that led them to the current situation. It scared the hell out of him then and it was no less scary now.
"I don't know if we should push our luck but we could try to get in touch with Marchella again, see if there's anything else she can do to help," Chakotay posed. "Something tells me Carbline won't be back yet from the camp, whether Harry was better or not."
Janeway didn't say a word as her gaze went out the windows at the planet below them. It seemed like such a peaceful planet to her, just what Rysaria did before all hell broke loose with Ekaterina Matol. If the woman hadn't been so determined to have children, they wouldn't be in their current predicament. As much as she wanted to go down and get her officers back, she also knew no one could get into the camps without help.
"Bridge to Captain Janeway."
"Janeway here."
"Marchella is onscreen and requesting to talk to you. She says it's about Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim and there's no time to waste."
Janeway and Chakotay quickly stole glances with each other before they headed out onto the bridge. On the view screen sat the image of an extremely agitated Marchella.
"Marchella, it is good to see you again. I haven't had a chance to thank you for your help from before. What can we do to help this time?" Janeway asked.
"I'm taking a big risk in contacting you this way so please listen to me carefully. I have just gotten word from one of my kayart contacts: Fadru and Catar have stormed the camp and taken everyone there prisoner. We need your help in liberating them and I can get you past the barriers if you agree to help," she explained. "Please, before everyone is killed. I've seen what Fadru does to his prisoners and it isn't pretty. I can assure you, if we don't get to them in time, they will be dead within hours if not already so we have to mobilize the rescue mission now if we want any form of success."
It took Janeway all of half a second to decide what the next course of action was going to be. She glanced at Chakotay, who remained quiet and knew exactly what he and everyone else on the bridge were thinking. She returned her attention back to the woman in front of her, a stern look crossed her face. Marchella grinned for she could tell what the answer was going to be before the human captain even confirmed it.
"Tell us what we need to do."
00000
The smell of burning flesh mixed with urine and semen filled Tom Paris' nose as he watched his friend lay supine in the middle of the floor. It had been hours since they were dragged into the cave and over the course of that time, he had seen Harry's body poked and prodded in so many places that his friend was currently looking like a cooked lobster. Sweat poured over the ensign's closed eyes, his entire body shuddering as Fadru knelt between his open legs. Harry attempted to flail his arms and legs at the man in a poor attempt to stop the unwelcome intrusion but the Tanaschi continued with his meddling. Tom soon found out the other end of Fadru's device had more of a rounded end and it could be placed into a crevice of the machine that now lay embedded in Harry's skin in order to intensify the sensations to the max. Tom gulped as he watched as the episode in progress come to a finish and Fadru climbed back to his feet.
"The maunt: I love this piece of equipment. It has not failed me yet," he smiled as he turned to the pilot. "I have to admit, your species is so soft and fragile, nothing like that of the Tanaschi. Your friend is failing much faster than any of us would but it will be fun to see how his body will react to my favourite tool."
"Go to hell Fadru," Tom snarled at him. "And you can take the rest of your men with you."
The man charged for him until he was an inch away from the pilot's nose. Tom could feel the Tanaschi's breath against his skin and tried to ignore it. Fadru snickered before stepping over to the nearby case. Rummaging around for a moment, he carefully pulled out something that made Tom's heart sink into his stomach. He figured it was about eight inches long, the base was about an inch in diameter and it slowly curved itself into a sharp tip. Tom gulped once he saw dozens of small barbs along its length.
"As much as I adore the maunt, I love this device even more. It is called a jalar and though it appears unbending, it can easily traverse whatever it enters," he replied.
He turned to Catar and nodded, who responded by motioning to one of the other guards. Both men walked over to Harry and jostled the ensign's wounded body onto its side without any concern to his wellbeing. Harry managed to crack open his eyes while Fadru was talking to Tom and caught most of the conversation. He didn't get a good look at the device so he didn't know what to expect until he felt a hand near the small of his back.
"No, don't do this! Please, anything but this!" he heard Tom scream out.
Harry swallowed what little saliva formed in his mouth as he felt something press hard against his buttocks. Without any forewarning, his toes curled and his knees twisted as pain seared through his low back, releasing a bloodcurdling scream from his mouth that echoed through the entire camp.
TBC...
