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Switched

Chapter 36

Bruised, bleeding, and tied up in a dark room, Chakotay closed his eyes in pain as a door opened and light flooded in. Heavy footsteps then walked across the floor and then the hands of two stout men yanked him to his feet. The same hands then pushed him against a pillar and tied his half naked body to it.

"You're wasting your time," Chakotay cried, blood oozing from his beaten lips. "I'll never tell you where Cayla is!"

Fingers seized his chin and squeezed hard. "Oh yes you will. Sooner or later you will."

"Never," Chakotay sputtered. "And you can tell Taron that."

The man chuckled. "You can tell Taron yourself."

With that the sound of heels echoed all around and then the black silhouette of a woman filled the doorway.

"Hello, Chakotay," she said. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Taron."

Chakotay forced his eyes to stay open, forced them to focus, but all he could see was a shadowy figure. "You can't fool me," he said. "I know Taron's a man."

The woman laughed. "Not last time I checked. But if you mean Grant Merellus, oh yes, he's all male. Every inch a male. And that's quite a few inches. But he isn't Taron. That's me."

"You're lying. I know he is."

"Wrong. The cops think he is. Well, it's time to set the record straight. Grant Merellus is no one more than someone who owed me big time. I let him live in exchange for taking the rap. A fair deal, don't you think? Twelve years in prison rather than forever in a grave?"

"I don't believe you."

"Then start believing. Because as smart as your bitch of a sister-in-law thinks she is, she busted the wrong dude. That's right. She busted the wrong dude but paid for it anyway. And do you know why? Because no one messes with me and gets away with it."

"If you're telling the truth," Chakotay said. "Why tell it now?"

"Because it gives me a perverse thrill of pleasure. All these years everyone's thought me a man, but all the time I've been a woman. And not just any woman. Do you know who I am?"

"No," Chakotay said honestly.

"I don't suppose you do," she replied. "After all, you can't see my face. Well, let me educate you." She clicked her fingers. "Computer, lights."

Light instantly filled the room and as Chakotay's eyes adjusted to the glare he saw streams of red-hair surrounding a pale freckled face. Even though he'd never met her, even though he'd only ever seen her picture, he recognized her instantly.

"My God," he cried. "Lacey."

She smiled sinisterly. "How do you do, brother-in-law."

Hardly able to breathe, Chakotay lay back against the pillar and closed his eyes. "This can't be happening," he said. "I'm hallucinating."

"Oh it's happening," she said. "And soon it will be to Cayla. Tell me where she is."

Disorientated and dizzy, Chakotay made no reply.

Lacey seized his neck. "I said tell me where she is!"

"She's your sister," Chakotay cried. "How can you hurt her?"

"I could if she was my mother. But she's not my sister. She's nothing to me. She's nothing but a nuisance I need rid of."

Blackness started swirling before Chakotay's eyes. "You're not Lacey," he said. "You're a hologram. A deception."

"Oh I assure you I'm real. And if it wouldn't be too much like incest, I'd show you just how real I am. I'll give it to the Janeway bitch who got my life, she has good taste in men. As to Cayla, she's dead meat. I thought a stretch in prison would have sorted her out but the bitch couldn't let things go. Well, now it's payback time and I'm going to roast her real slow. Oh yes. I'm just sorry I didn't make the connection between her and Vonra sooner. I should have. Bad going, little Lacey. But as your wife was the one who paid for it, it's no skin off my nose. In fact, you could call it a blessing in disguise. As soon as it was all over the news, I knew Cayla was my woman."

"You can't be Lacey," Chakotay persisted. "It's impossible."

"Why? Because it's ironic? Well, time for a reality check. Truth is stranger than fiction."

"Lacey's in space."

"Yes, with her darling husband. Perfect, isn't it? The world thinks Lacey's in space when all the time Lacey's doing her own thing. My husband's in on it, of course. We have what you'd call a marriage of convenience."

"If you weren't in space, how did our Doctor communicate with you?"

"Dear Chakotay," she laughed. "Are you totally stupid? My husband passed on all communication. And my doctor....well, let's just say he's a friend. I have friends everywhere. Most, of course, have never met me. My motto is...elusive and exclusive. And there's no better way to be either than to have everyone believe I'm a man. Even some who work for me do. Ain't that smart? Only a privileged few, a very privileged few, know who I am." She pulled a knife from a pouch around her waist and held up the gleaming blade. "Now, tell me where Cayla is."

"I won't," he said.

Lacey put the knife to his naked navel. "Tell me!"

"No."

With a flick, Lacey slashed his skin and he cried out in agony as blood gushed out. "Tell me!"

"Never."

One of the men spoke to Lacey. "We've tried everything. He won't talk."

"Then there's nothing for it," Lacey said. "We'll have to do a memory probe." She grabbed hold of Chakotay's hair and yanked up his drooping head. "Did you hear that, Chakotay? If you don't talk, we'll probe your memories. Somewhere in that head of yours is the knowledge of Cayla's whereabouts and I'm determined to get that information out of there one way or another. If you don't tell us, we'll probe your brain until we find what we're looking for."

"Do what you want," Chakotay answered. "I'll never tell you."

Lacey stepped away from him. "Then prepare to be prodded." She put her knife back into its pouch. "Gus, Wyn. Strap him to the chair!"

The two men untied Chakotay and then hauled him over to a black chair in the corner of the room. As Gus strapped him down, Wyn fixed a flashing device to his forehead.

"If you haven't noticed," Lacey said, "Gus is a Vulcan. If you don't tell us what we want to know, he'll draw it from your mind."

"I'll resist him," Chakotay cried.

"As the Borg say, resistance is futile. And do you know why? Because the device he's just attached to you is a link enhancer. Sometimes it kills, sometimes it cabbages, but it always works." She walked over to the chair and loomed over him. "But it's not too late. Tell us what we want to know and we'll let you go."

Chakotay looked into her cold vacant blue eyes. "I'd rather die."

Lacey curled her lip. "Your choice." She then stepped away from the chair and addressed Gus. "Do it!"

The Vulcan roughly placed his fingers on Chakotay's temple and then concentrated hard. Chakotay cried in agony as a sharp pain penetrated his brain and fought with all his might to resist the mental probe. But the pain got worse and worse until all he could do was scream in torment. Then his body convulsed and then limped as he lost consciousness. Gus broke the connection and turned to Lacey.

"Rylan Dock," he said. "Cayla's at Rylan Dock."

Lacey smiled and rubbed her gloved hands together. "Well done, boys. Very well done."

END OF CHAPTER 36