ACT III

The militants finished bringing the weakened Starfleet officers to the back of the craft. Nakajima was in a chair, with her hands tied behind her back, and her feet bound. Three militants, having a good time with her, stripped her of all of her clothing, and were fondling her every private area.

Nakajima was, all the while, screaming in agony, as the violation began.

Wing managed to stumble to his feet, and pointed at the militants. "You had... better stop that... right now," he said in a deadly calm voice.

One of the militants zipped his pants back up, and turned, grinning at Wing. "Or what, Starfleet? What will you do?"

Wing slowly stepped into a tiger-guard stance. "Or, I will be forced to take action."

The guard, laughing, picked up a phaser, and shot at Wing. Wing dodged successfully, and charged the one militant. Though, suddenly, Wing found himself on the deck, as another militant shot him in the side with a low-stun beam. That resulted in Tuvok dragging him back to their original spot, near the windows.

The militants laughed and continued their violation of Nakajima...

Captain Denise Oliver stood in McGawan's office, as McGawan showed her a set of sensor data. "This was the Ohio's last recorded position."

"What the hell were they doing so close to that ion storm?" Oliver wondered. "That's the Batreka Ion Field. It's a slow ion storm that is caught in the orbit of Lambda Epsilon's outter most gravitational influence. It's one of the strongest ion storms of its kind. And the fastest moving."

"That's a class five ion storm?"

Oliver nodded. "The last storm that came near to Batreka, that was studied from the inside, by Starfleet, was the one the Starship Enterprise encountered in the 23rd century."

"That lead to the first court martialing of a starship captain, did it not?"

Oliver nodded. "It wasn't Batreka, but it was just as dangerous."

"Do you think an Akira-class starship could get inside that nebula?" McGawan wondered.

With a shrug, Oliver said: "Possably. But we don't have the necessary equipement to handle scans inside of an ion storm like Batreka. We'd have to have a sensor network like a Galaxy class or an Intrepid class starship."

"The Mercury won't be here for another month and a half, so we're stuck with the Gertland," McGawan said. "Get on it, see what you can do."

Oliver nodded. "Aye, Captain."

Nakajima, once again, rejected some water that was presented to her. She sat in a corner, shivering, and covered. Green blood seeped from her mouth and her arms, where the militants forced themselves upon her. She also sat in a very small pool of her her own green blood.

"I," Nakajima said, through the shivers, "I... want them to kill me..."

"It's okay," Wing said, trying to calm her down. "It will be alright-"

"The HELL you say?!" Nakajima barked. "I feel totally worthless. Like I am a plaything for everyone... I want them to kill me. DO YOU HEAR ME?!" she screamed to the militants, who just laughed from outside of the cabin. "KILL ME YOU SONS OF BITCHES!" Nakajima, then, pushed Wing away. She ran for the table and began to trash it.

Wing shook off his face, and turned to Tuvok, who just watched. "She's Vulcan, alright."

"Miss Nakajima," Tuvok said, standing, and slowly approaching. "You must calm yourself."

Nakajima turned to Tuvok, picking up a vase. Standing naked and bloodied, she was ready to take heads. "Let's see what happens when angry militants rape YOU and make YOU suffer."

Tuvok came up on Nakajima, slowly approaching. "You are Vulcan. You must concentrate on the fire within you."

"Don't come ANY closer!" Nakajima said, getting ready to throw the vase at Tuvok. "I'll kill you, you worthless sonuvabitch."

"You are understandably emotional," Tuvok said. "Being part human makes it even more difficult for you to hold back your emtions. However, you must remain strong."

"Strong? You SAW what being strong got me! I SAID DON'T MOVE!" With that, she arched her arm back to throw the vase. However, Wing caught her arm, and held the other one behind her back.

Nakajima struggled. She strugled to free herself from Wing's grasp. Wing was having a hard enough time as it was, considering that Nakajima was almost thirty times as strong as her small arms made her appear.

But finally, she broke free. She ran for Tuvok. She almost lept into the air, but kept her feet on the ground during her attack. She arched her fist back, and all Tuvok did was put a hand on the side of her face, right on her katra points.

As Nakajima screamed curses in Japanese, Tuvok chanted: "Your mind to my mind. Your thoughts to my thoughts."

Nearly instantly, Nakajima stopped cold. She just stood there, her eyes suddenly shut.

All the while, Wing dropped his jaw. He was amazed at just how powerful Vulcans can be. Especially the power to calm and to stop other Vulcans, just with a swift motion of his hand to a set of katra points...

The storm raged on. The rains had turned to fire. The thunder rolled. The fields were ablaze, now. And Kaori was burning alive. Standing over her was a shrouded figure, who constantly poked her and played with her with a huge metalic object, which the figure inserted, withdrew, and inserted in different spots.

Symbolic of her inner agony, Tuvok realized, as he came in.

This looked familiar to Tuvok. It was reminicent of what he encountered while he was earing pon'far for the first time, while he studied the kolinar. He knew the symbols all too well.

It was why he quit kolinar. The Vulcan psyche was not a kind thing, and Tuvok realized it.

So did Kaori. It makes it harder for her, especially, being half human. Living with emotion was one of the biggest challenges of any Vulcan. From T'Pol, to Spock, and now to Kaori Nakajima. Whether the motions are brought on by neurotoxin or genetics, emotions and Vulcan logic don't mix.

Tuvok crossed into the field of flames. Where he stepped, the flames died out, revealing untouched green grass. However, when Tuvok walked away from any point, the flames would restart again. This represented the flames of emotion in Kaori's katra, which burned with a fury unlike any other.

Through the torture, Kaori managed to see Tuvok. At first, Tuvok believed that she would reject the intrusion. If that were to happen, Tuvok would break the meld. He was ready to do so.

Hoever, Kaori began to slowly reach out to Tuvok. "Help...me..." she cried through a forced whisper. "Save...me...Tao..."

She called for Wing.

Tuvok knelt down in front of Kaori, who was being prodded by the shrouded figure. When the figure attempted to extend another instrument towards Tuvok, Tuvok held up a hand. That, alone, was enough for the figured to back off and to not mind Tuvok.

"You are in pain," Tuvok said simply. "You must concentrate."

"It's...too much...Tuvok...," Kaori through the agony. "I... can't..."

"You can," Tuvok argued. "You must. You are Vulcan. You are a logical being."

"I am human... I am emotional...."

"You are in control-"

"The Negarani are in control."

"They are on the outside," Tuvok reminded. "You are here, now. In the flames of your mind, they torment you. They touch your human side."

"They know...how to torment..."

"They are the demons," Tuvok said. "All demons can be defeated."

"How?"

"Push," Tuvok said. "Push the shrouded figure."

"I can't..." Kaori squeezed her eyes closed as the figure continued to play. "The figure...is also... me..."

Tuvok eyed the shrouded figure, who ignored him. He managed to remove the shroud, revealing Kaori once more. "Is this a self-suicide?"

"This is what I am," Kaori, as the shrouded figure, said. "I am human. Vulcan logic has never gotten me anywhere."

"You have become acustomed to torturing yourself?"

"It is my punishment for my failure," Kaori said. She turned to the Kaori she was torturing, and she spit at her. "This one is worthless, and not worthy to survive."

"All life," Tuvok said, "is worthy to survive."

"The Negarani do not believe this is so," Shrouded Kaori said.

"You are Starfleet," Tuvok said, coming closer to the shrouded figure. "You are Vulcan. You are not Negarani." With one swift motion, Tuvok gave the shrouded figure a nerve pinch. The figure rippled out of existence.

Tuvok, then, turned to Kaori in the pit, and knelt in front of her. "Close your eyes."

"What for-"

"Close your eyes," Tuvok said, placing a hand on her katra points. "Allow what is natural to overcome you."

"That's impossible," Kaori said. "I am—"

"It is not impossible," Tuvok said.

Kaori closed her eyes. She naturally rejected Tuvok's advice, and drew upon the advice of her very wise teacher. "Bring centre and harmony to your chi," she said. "Let the inner peace prevail."

"This is the principle of control," Tuvok said. "Logic is the centre of control."

"Chi is the centre of logic."

"The soul is the center of your inner essence," Tuvok continued.

"The universe is ever changing," Kaori said, breathing...

..."Yet," Wing repeated with her, as Tuvok and Nakajima continued to meld. Wing massaged Nakajima's free shoulder, as he repeated with her. "The universe has an order to it, through the chaos..."

..."Order is the foundation of logic," Tuvok said.

"Logic is the essence of control," Kaori said, taking a deep breath.

"You are in control."

Another breath. "I am in control."

"You are in control," Wing read.

"I am in... control!"

Captain's Log, Stardate 60547.8

The Gertland has arrived at the Batreka Ion Field, and we are prepairing to enter the storm. However, the Negarani aren't making it easy for us.

"Captain," Lieutenant Charles Benning said from the tactical position, next to the helm. "They've formed a blockade."

"It figures," Oliver said, as she centered into her command chair. "Mister Holiday, how are those shield modifications coming?"

"I've almost got it," Ensign Alex Holiday said from an enegineering station. "For this to work, we'll have to get to within ten meters of the Ohio to get a solid tractor lock."

Oliver snarled. "Get it ready by the time we get to the Ohio. Mister Benning, set off your smoke screen."

The Gertland offloaded a few quantom torpedoes. Before they hit anything, the Akira class starship fired at them, setting them off. The chain reaction created a pocket of dense particles, which irritated nearby stray ions from the storm.

"Their sensors should be offline now," Benning said.

"Let's get it on," Oliver said. "Take us into the storm. Slow to three-quarters impulse once we've entered the storm's outter parimeter."

"Aye Captain," called the helmsman.

Within seconds, the Gertland screamed for the ion storm. Within seconds after it, the Gertland disappeared into the outter edge, and into the true danger zone.

END OF ACT III