Mucho apologies for the delay in updates, people getting sick and not going to work is the blame for it this time.

Quick note:

The following chapter contains material not suitable for younger viewers, so parental units you have been warned.

On with the show.

Shattered mirror

Randy was in a room which could have come out of any S and M club, and they would have been proud of it. He was strapped down on a large table, flat on his stomach, his head twisted painfully to the side so his nose didn't get mashed in to the table and so he could breathe.

His shirt had been stripped off and he was blindfolded, Randy sucked in air though his nostrils as he tried to breath through the pain of the last lash that connected with his back. Randy didn't see what Sambo had decided to hit him with but it felt like some kind of bull whip.

"Tell me how to find Legacy!" Sambo demanded as he watched the lashes he had already applied to Randy start to trickle blood. He had underestimated the resilience of both the Captain and her first officer, so far they had not spoken one word to him, unless it was to offer a profanity. Sambo walked around the table and looked down at Randy's face, it was pinched with pain and his breathing was hitching slightly. He was shivering Sambo had kept the temperature in the room low as he himself had worked up a sweat lashing Randy with the whip.

"You know you could end all this now, I can give you something to drink, a hot bath and some nice food, all you have to tell me is where to find them." Sambo was almost whispering in Randy's ear now and Randy had to fight back the urge not to spit in Sambo's face which he knew was very close.

"You might as well kill me now, I won't tell you anything." Randy hissed as the sharp pain coming from his back was becoming duller and his senses started to return.

Sambo stood up straight and whipped Randy across his broad back once more, he then swung the lash again and carved another line though his skin. This time Randy arched up trying to fight off the pain but no comfort was coming. It was true though Randy would die before telling Sambo anything, he was fighting consciousness now as the whip landed for a third time, this time it tore his pants away from his upper thigh and a new hurt almost brought him back alert.

Losing his battle to stay awake Randy's body grew limp and Sambo panted beside him and looked down on the lifeless body.

"Damm it take him back!" Sambo ordered, no amount of torture would get and unconscious man to talk. The guards came in and dragged Randy between them back to his cell.

"Ladies please" Ted said holding his hands out palms up trying to prevent both women raging at him at once.

"I know we all want the Captain and Commander back, me included, but we can't just go storming up there and demand it can we." Ted said trying to reason with them both as they sat and looked at him from the other side of the desk as if he had just laid and egg.

"Yes we do!" Melina said she had had enough with this damm world and its rules and now she wanted some pay back.

"He is right though." Beth said breathing out her reply finally willing to concede that one ship although powerful was no match for the armada that Sambo had brought with him.

"This is going to take planning if we are going to pull it off." Beth said getting up and starting to pace the small room, both sets of eyes from the Legacy crew were on her but she had no idea they were looking at her for she was deep in thought.

"That's if we can even find them, they could be half way to Australia by now." Ted said still watching as the tall blonde placed her hands behind her back and walked to and throw.

"We can find them, we have the best sensors literally on Earth and I can tweak them to give us more." Melina said now turning back to Ted who was leaning forward at the desk with his eyebrow raised.

"Beth could you stop your making me dizzy." Ted said finally placing one hand on his temple and rubbing at the headache forming behind his eyes.

"Oh yes sorry I tend to do that when I am thinking, oh and as for finding them I know where they are going." Beth said as though that bit of information was not important at the moment but Melina almost jumped on her.

"What how do you know that, why didn't you tell us before?" Grabbing Beth by the shoulders Melina looked at Beth, after the incident with her brother she was not so inclined to trust people and as she looked in to Beth's blue unguarded gaze Melina softened her expression.

"Because they took me there, to Egypt there is a prison there for POW's it is designed to break you and once you have been suitably broken you are moved to a ship to serve, I suspect the high Commander is trying to get Mickie and Randy to tell him how to make and use your technology, I don't expect they will give him the answers easily." Beth said turning to look at Ted and he was shocked by the knowing look in this young woman's eyes.

"So how do we rescue our people?" Ted said sitting down and feeling like the world was waiting for him to answer his own question but the room remained silent as they looked from one to the other for the answers.

Randy awoke to look at a pair of very familiar brown eyes. He squinted against the pain in his back as he saw the face smile back at him although it was still blurry around the edges he licked his dry lips and spoke.

"Captain." Randy felt a hand on his cheek as Mickie ran her fingers across his face and though his short hair.

"It's ok Randy I am here." He hushed him but he still tried to sit up, it hurt to lye on his back like this and he must have been pretty heavy with him half lying on her like he was.

Mickie sighed and helped Randy sit up she could see all of the marks on his back as they had not bothered to put his shirt back on and she winced once more as she saw they were weeping and swollen. As Randy turned on his side on the bed he looked back up at Mickie who then jumped off the bed.

"They brought us water, I used some of it to clean your wounds but there is plenty to drink." She said snatching up the canister and offering it to Randy. He eyed it suspiciously, it wasn't a large container it was about half full and if she had cleaned his wounds she would not have had much to drink herself.

"You have some first, I am ok." Randy croaked out his voice betraying just how dry he actually was. Mickie took the canister and tilted it back, taking only a little but pretending like she had had a good drink she handed it back to Randy who still looked at it suspiciously.

"I will make it an order if I have to Commander." Mickie finally said in her best Captain's voice and it was enough to get Randy swallowing the cool liquid.

Not finishing it off completely Randy replaced the cap and lent heavily on his left arm keeping the weight from his back and so he could look at Mickie. Her face was still pretty swollen and when she smiled it looked kind of distorted, her eye had gone a horrible purple colour and Randy was sure the bruise on her ribs was probably the same. She seemed fine other than that though, she was not limping quite so much and the smile on her face when she looked at him seemed pretty genuine.

"How long?" Randy said finally as Mickie perched on the end of the bunk next to his feet.

"A while you had me pretty worried for a moment there." She said giving his calf a brief gentle pat before removing her hand and wrapping her arms around herself once more. Randy hadn't noticed but it was once again dark, the light that was coming in was from the bulb in the corridor out side of their room. His eyes had obviously gotten used to being kept in the low lights or none at all.

Randy pushed the thought of that whip out of his mind and tried to comfort himself with the thought that Mickie had not yet had to go though that. Yet being the operative word, Randy was sure that the next time Sambo came for Mickie it would be to strap her to that table.

Sitting up quicker than he should have done Randy hissed through the pain as Mickie was at his side in a second.

"You have to lie still Randy your wounds are not closing properly and you don't want to risk infection." Mickie said as she tried to lower him back on to his side but Randy was having none of it.

"Mickie if Sambo takes you if it is too much." He couldn't complete the sentence, he knew Mickie would never tell Sambo anything and he didn't want her too, yet he couldn't help but wanting to keep her from getting hurt as well.

"Randy I know you want to protect me, but you know I can't tell him anything, no matter what." Mickie said as though she was reading his mind. Taking hold of her fingers he noticed just how icy her hands were and he rubbed her hand in an effort to warm them up. He also noted that he did not feel so cold, and his head was still swimming like when he had first woken up. Knowing the early signs of infection Randy made a note to ask Mickie to clean his back again before morning.

"You should get some rest." Mickie said placing her hand on his shoulder once more and this time Randy went with her guidance. He did not realise just how tired he was until he was horizontal once more and this time not lying on his painful back. He allowed his eyes to slip closed and felt Mickie as she moved in next to him and positioned herself in the natural bend in his body. Moving his arm to wrap around her he pulled her in flush against his body, at first she stiffened against him then he felt her slowly relax in his now familiar embrace.

Mickie was like a cat getting disturbed by something in its sleep. She lept out of the bed and was crouched beside the door in the only spot where she had decided no one could see her, as soon as she had heard the door open to their dungeon. She slowed her breathing and pressed her back firmly against the damp freezing wall as the foot falls came ever closer down the metal stairwell. Glancing at Randy preying he wouldn't wake up and give her position away she felt her muscles tense as she could almost smell their sour smelling sweat as they got closer.

It was a smell that now haunted Mickie's dreams, when she had been in that chamber with Sambo tied to a lone chair in the centre he had gotten very close to her, and all she could do was smell his sent, now it was fuelling her desire to escape from the hell and she clenched her fists at her side.

"Wakey Wakey rise and shine!" One of the guards said as the other one chuckled but both stopped abruptly as Randy did not stir and Mickie was no where to be seen.

"Damm it she's gone what the hell are we supposed to tell the Commander?" One of them said as a small smile crossed Mickie's face but was gone an instant later.

"How could she have gone the door is still locked?" The other man said as he placed his key in the lock and began turning the key.

"Hold on what if she is hiding waiting to attack us?" The second guard said, the one who had tried to wake them up when they had first arrived.

"Where a crack in the wall?"

The lock finally clacked back as the guard opened the door slowly as the first walked forward and came in to Mickie's field of vision.

Waiting trying not to give away her position Mickie pressed herself flat against the wall ignoring something that scurried across her arm and up towards her shoulder she paused waiting for the second guard to make an appearance.

She didn't have to wait long the second guard was smaller than the first, he was over weight but short and Mickie doubted that he could run very fast.

Sucking in a last gasp of air Mickie launched herself at the second guard, both were to stunned to move at first as Mickie crashed down on to the shorter guard and sent him to the floor with a hard smack to the back of the head. Snatching his gun from his waist band Mickie darted towards the door. The first and taller guard who looked like he could outrun her was bent over Randy. He whirled on Mickie and snarled at her like a lion as she lept for the doorway.

Dogging back from the guards snatching hand Mickie realised that all she had to do now was run. She was right next to the open door and both guards were still stumbling over one another to get to her.

"Stop!" Mickie said as she stepped back out side the cell and showed them she would lock them in if they moved. Both guards quit moving and looked from one to the other.

"I will let you both out, and I will get back inside if you get me medicine for my Commander." Mickie said and both guards looked suddenly puzzled.

"What if we don't you will be caught and put back in here any way." The short man sneered at her still rubbing at the back of his head.

"I bet the high Commander will not be too happy if he knows you let me escape, in fact I might just say you let me out." Mickie smirked at them as both men suddenly paled in the stark light coming from the windows high above them.

"Ok how do you want to do this?" Said the taller of the two guards as he looked behind him to see Randy rolling restlessly on the bunk in the grips of a fever.

"One of you can go upstairs and get the medicine make up something I don't care what while the other one stays locked in there. When I get the medicine I will let the other one go."

"How do we know you won't just run away?"

"Because if I wanted to do that I would have already done it." Mickie smiled brandishing the gun at them and motioning the short plump man to come forward.

It only took the guard ten minutes to come back with the antibiotics Randy desperately needed, Mickie snatched them out of the man's hands waving him off with the gun as he let the second guard out. Going back into the cell herself Mickie reluctantly tossed the gun back to them knowing if she kept it Sambo would likely know something had gone on and would take the medicine from them.

"You know for someone so smart you are such a fool." One of the guards said but Mickie did not look around to see which one as she propped up Randy's head and made him swallow the tablet with the little water they had left and hopped it would be enough to make him better. Stashing the rest of the tablets in a crag in the wall Mickie once again stood up as she heard the sounds of men approaching her cell once more.

Ted sat on the bride of Legacy he stared out at the ocean and watched as the sun poked above the horizon. He had not been to bed, he knew that he would not have been able to sleep, he looked over to the command chair next to him and at the blonde vale of hair that partially coved the face of the newest member of their crew. Beth had fallen asleep a few hours ago and Ted didn't have the heart to wake her. She had been up talking with Melina Cody and the other senior staff about possible ways to get Mickie and Randy back. It was agreed that they would have to act soon as if Mickie and Randy reached Egypt before they could catch up to them then they would have a slim chance of getting them out.

Ted looked down at her peaceful face, it seemed as if for a moment she had no worries and no fears and it took years off usually haunted face. Ted had only heard limited talk about what happened to Beth when she was a prisoner of the UAN but what he had heard had made his blood run cold. Looking at her now he could hardly believe that she was even this well adjusted and still willing to risk her own life to save two people she hardly knew.

Ted turned his head as Cody re appeared on the bridge, Ted had ordered them to two hours sleep before they set off after the Bismarck as they had all been up for nearly 24 hours and if they lost this battle because they were tired no one would forgive themselves.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Ted whispered as Cody sat down in his chair and swivelled to face Ted.

"No, I glad she managed to get some shut eye though." Cody said pointing to Beth but keeping his voice low.

"Yeah I don't think we are going to be able to do this without her." Ted replied as Mike and John came on to the bridge.

"God is the whole ship awake?" Ted said in a harsh whisper as Beth stirred and yawned fluttering her eyes open.

"Guess so sir!" John replied as they gave Cody and Beth a smile as Beth just gave them a small wave in return.

"I guess we go now then." Ted said sitting up straighter in his chair and Cody fired up the engines.

"This is commander Debasie to all hands Battle stations."

Mickie had never been so cold in her life, water trickled down her sides and off the end of her nose. She was shackled to the wall cuffs holding her hands way above her head and her feet were held in chains to the side, although her feet were barely touching the floor and her shoulders were screaming in agony at the pressure of holding her own body up right.

She was stood near an opening as icy wind licked at her wet body as Sambo skulked around her. Mickie kept her eyes on the floor and refused to talk as she had done since they had escorted her from the cell.

"I can make it colder if you would like, I'm sure these boys wouldn't have any objection to getting rid of some layers." Sambo said as he put down the bucket that had contained the sea water which was now all over Mickie as she came forwards and sliced off Mickie's shirt.

Mickie made no move to protest or cry out, she did not want to look at the faces of these men and she certainly did not want to see Sambo's eyes.

"Very nice Captain, now I could get you a new shirt, a nice dry warm one if you like. All you have to do is tell me how your sensors work." Sambo said as he ran the knife up between her breasts and pressed the blade into her solar plexus until the skin gave way and a small drop of blood ran down towards her stomach.

Mickie closed her eyes and tried to keep her breathing calm, she thought about home, about her mom making key lime pie on a Sunday morning, then about her father who was so aloof yet secretly proud of her. She had seen him shed a tear when he was informed of her promotion to Captain and she knew then that she could handle the Legacy and it's crew for sure.

Mickie was snapped back to reality as the blade cut into her skin, it sliced across her shoulder cutting it way down her chest and across the top of her breast.

Sambo dragged the blade slowly, he watched as Mickie's eyes re focused on the room and indicated to one of the guards for another bucket of water.

As the icy liquid hit Mickie once more it set her whole body on fire and the cut across her chest was making it hard to breathe.

"All you have to do is answer Captain and this will all stop." Sambo whispered to her once more but Mickie remained silent.

Hey hope it was worth the wait, its getting pretty intense now it hard to get the tone right when dealing with torture I hope this was ok and no one has been sick.

As ever all feedback is welcome.

Thank you for reading. XxX