He had read all the reports, and knew what she was capable of, even limited to the confines of her current body. But he also knew that she would not be very willing to remain in his care, at least not at first, so he'd carefully planned all facets of her care. She would be shown at every possible point exactly who was in control. It was a lesson that she would have to learn very quickly, or she would be finding her situation most unpleasant.
Chapter 31
Weak daylight was filtering through the small window when Sam woke from her uneasy slumber the next morning. Despite not being disturbed, she had slept fitfully, alert to the smallest of noises in the unfamiliar environment. Sam was somewhat relieved the night was over and the light allowed her to see well enough to give her an excuse to be awake. The room had not changed overnight, and was still as drab and sterile as ever, giving her no indication of where she was or who the unknown creepy guy was.
Sam took stock of herself. She was stiff and sore, likely bruised in many places from being hauled around in that carrier. Her front shoulder was tender where the dart had entered. At least she wasn't feeling as woozy as she had been the previous night. It looked like the drugs were finally leaving her system.
Sam stretched, loosening tight muscles and relieving cramps, before she investigated the food dish. The dry food had not miraculously turned into an O'Malley's steak and baked potato overnight. Sam ignored the food for a moment and turned her attention to the water, this time drinking her fill. She knew she needed to replenish her body's fluids if she wanted to stay strong. On that same note, Sam finally turned reluctantly to the food. She couldn't ignore the growing hunger pangs any longer, and soon she would likely start to feel very weak, and she needed every edge she had if she had any hope of getting away from this man.
Approaching the food, Sam sniffed at it again. She couldn't really describe the smell, and certainly didn't recognize what flavor it was supposed to be. Sam remembered that a lot of commercial cat foods tended to come in several flavors, and that the flavor didn't necessarily mean that the food was made from that thing. Deciding that it couldn't be worse than some of the things they'd eaten on other planets, so as not to offend the locals, Sam took a hesitant piece of food in her mouth, then nearly literally choked on it.
Coughing violently, she expelled the obstruction and watched it fall through the grate into the tray below. Shuddering as she caught her breath, Sam realized that she had not eaten anything more than very soft foods. Her food had been ground up, and even the few things she'd had like the cake the Colonel had shared with her had been soft. She'd not had to eat anything hard, and realized she didn't really know what to do with the hard food.
Sam considered the problem. Looking at the two dishes, Sam puzzled it over and suddenly had an idea. Carefully, she dipped her front paw into the food, and painstakingly teased out a piece, lobbing it over the small gap between the dishes into the water bowl, satisfied as it hit the water with a small plop. The piece of food floated on the surface of the water. After letting it soak for a minute or two, Sam gingerly dipped her paw into the water dish, resisting the urge to pull it right back out at the feel of water. She fished the morsel out carefully, only to curse inwardly as she fumbled it. Sam glared at the waterlogged bit of food where it lay next the first morsel she'd dropped.
Her frustration grew as the next two pieces of dry food missed the water completely and joined the first two when she batted at them, first with too much, than with not enough force to clear the edges of the bowl and the gap. Finally, she got the idea to gather a piece of food in her mouth and drop it into the water. Since that had worked so well, Sam decided to try to retrieve the soaked piece the same way. Unfortunately, she inadvertently let her nose get too close to the water, still a little new to drinking this way, and forgot to hold her breath, accidentally inhaling a nose full of water. Choking and gasping, Sam staggered away from the bowl, despairing over her inability to even eat a simple meal. Sam squeezed her eyes closed and gave into a rare moment of self-pity.
So wrapped was she in her own shortcomings, Sam almost missed the opening of the door. Startled as the room filled with light, Sam turned to the doorway in time to witness the arrival of Slick, his henchmen from the night before, and two people she didn't recognize dressed in lab coats.
Sam rose, intending to meet the group on her feet. The man approached her, smiling that same artificial smile that did not reach his eyes. The man was eyeing her, and she saw his eyes briefly rest on the bits of food now scattered in the tray below the cage, before returning his gaze to her. Sam felt like she was in some kind of exhibit.
"Good Morning Major Carter, I trust that you found your accommodations to your satisfaction. My apologies about the food, I had not realized your unique requirements. I assure you I will correct the oversight immediately." The man snapped his fingers, and one of the other people in the room, a tall dark haired woman, stepped forward with a small covered dish. She quickly removed the dish containing the dry kibble and dumped it into a trashcan located under the sink. She placed the contents of the dish into the bowl, before sliding the bowl back into place. A strong fish smell came from the ground mush in the bowl, and it looked like something that had come from a can. Sam looked up as the man spoke again.
"I assure you Major Carter, that I only feed my animals the very best. Now, please eat, you must be famished after your journey and need to regain your strength. We can talk after you've eaten." The man smiled at her.
Sam glared at the man in reply, and sat down, tail twitching. She was not an animal, and she was not his. She refused to play his game. The man only smiled, he seemed to have been expecting her response, and seemed both pleased and amused by it.
"I see. Business first. You must be wondering who I am, and why you are here. I don't believe we've been properly introduced, Major. I am Jason Arden. Perhaps you've heard of me?" He watched for her reaction, but she didn't give one. In fact, Sam had heard of the man. He was a multi billionaire, and had his hand it seemed into nearly every diversified type of technology out there, from jet engines to computers. She believed that one of his companies might have even unknowingly helped to develop components used on the X-303.
Not getting a reaction, the man went on, not even batting an eyelash at her lack of response. He seemed to expect that as well as he continued. "You are here because of me. I pride myself on my collection of the rare and exotic, and you Major Carter, will be one of the rarest and most exotic specimens I have ever obtained."
Unable to contain it, Sam growled openly at the man's words tail swishing back and forth angrily. How dare this man kidnap her, drug her, and keep her locked up like some animal, then come waltzing in declaring that she was his possession. Sam was angry, but her anger could only smolder, the man seemed to take great amusement from her reaction.
"Now, now, Major, that's no way to speak to your host. I have nothing but your best interests at heart, and I can provide you with a life of comfort of leisure. All you have to do is cooperate. Now, it is my understanding that you have been able to answer questions by moving your head and can also use a computer to communicate. Is this correct Major?" Jason Arden awaited her response, staring at her as if she was some new gizmo and he was learning all its features.
Sam leveled her gaze at the man, meeting his stare unblinking. If he thought she would just lie down and give up because he said so, he had another thing coming. Sam didn't care who he was or how much money he possessed. He'd robbed her of her freedom and nothing gave him that right. Sam lifted her chin and sat defiantly, watching the man's reaction.
Unfortunately, he seemed to expect her response again, and his smile widened into one of pure malice. Sam suppressed a feeling of dread, the man obviously had control issues and a thirst for power, and she was stuck in the middle.
His lips tight, the man addressed her again. "We can make this as easy or as difficult as you prefer Major. You will learn that you belong to me now. Cooperation will be rewarded. Refuse, and you will suffer the consequences. I can make things most uncomfortable for you, and the sooner you learn your place the better things will be." He was watching her closely and Sam struggled to suppress any reaction to his words, but was unable to turn from the man's gaze.
"I will leave you now to refresh yourself. Consider your choice wisely Major Carter, you can make this easy, or I can make things very difficult for you." With that final word, Jason Arden turned and led his entourage out of the room, the door closing with finality. Sam stared at the closed door in dismay, before allowing her weak legs to give in and sinking to the floor of the cage.
A/N: My cat Splat inspired the scene where Sam was teasing pieces of dry food into her water bowl. What Splat does is lay on the floor next to the food dish, and dip her paw into the bowl pulling out one piece at a time and dropping it on the floor to eat it. I figured if Splat could fish pieces of food out of a bowl, than Sam could too.