Zara08-LOL! That's a catchy name for a handbook. Yes, he left that part out...conveniently...hahaha!

JWood201-"Important lessons through questionable methods" That is exactly the right way to word it! Hahaha I love how exited you are for this to happen for them both! Making me excited to write it :-)

Carmen's talk with the commander succeeded in lifting her spirits. He'd acted so certain that they would be back on the Enterprise in no time, planning the wedding as if there had never been an interruption. And now, without that old clamor of fear, it was easy to believe him.

Every few minutes she would reach for her mother, just to be sure she was still there. She could feel her presence, gentle and familiar, in the back of her mind. It had become like the melody of a favorite song, always keeping Carmen company. She had come to like it-to need it even.

As a child, she had never known another empath. There was a certain frustration, a certain loneliness, in being the only one. She could reach into the emotions of others, but they could never reach out to her. Sometimes she felt like a ghost, haunting the halls of the Enterprise, surrounded by people but somehow alone. Like she resided in a desert that no one even knew existed. No one, that is, except for her father.

Every once in awhile, he would stand by the window and he'd close his eyes. Then he'd brush right past her, another ghost. She could hear him calling, hear that strange word resounding across the barren plains of that place. Imzadi. He was looking for somebody. Looking for her. And when no answer came, he'd suffer in the silence, where he thought himself alone. Carmen never knew her mother, yet she lived in those empty canyons created by her absence.

Troi was the difference between that Riker's pain and this Riker's strength. Here, even though they had delayed their love, it still shaped them somehow. And so Carmen felt a certain protectiveness over the counselor, a duty to keep her safe lest the commander truly become her father.

It made her feel restless as she sat there, stuck in her current predicament. But Troi was better off than they were at the moment. She had supplies, she had a weapon, and (to Riker's chagrin) she had Elion. And thus far, they had managed to elude Kotar's guards. Thus far.

As Carmen reached for her mother again, she felt something different this time. A spike of alarm. A flash of worry. Then, just like that, it was gone. The whole thing had been so fleeting, so brief, that Carmen began to wonder if she imagined it all in the first place.

Footsteps approached. She snapped to attention, holding her breath should it be Kotar. Jora stiffened anxiously. She had woken up a few minutes ago, and Carmen could see the fear rushing into her eyes as she remembered where she was. It was followed by something sheepish, as though she had curled up against Carmen in a moment of weakness. And so, despite the junior officer's pleas, Jora scooted away again to resume her distant post.

The footsteps changed her mind, however. She inched closer to Carmen, eyes glued to the corner to see who would appear. Dr. Gardener's affable smile came into view.

"Feeling better?" he asked Carmen. She nodded. Satisfied, he knelt down beside his other patient, the unconscious Siko.

"What's that?" Riker indicated a bowl in the doctor's hands. Some kind of flower had been crushed up inside of it, creating a blue paste.

"I'll bet this one knows," he said, meaning Jora.

"Blue sun blossoms," she replied. "My mom uses them all the time. Usually when one of my dumb brothers-" She halted mid-sentence. Tears misted her eyes, tears that mourned the company of those dumb brothers. Carmen's heart stung with the girl's pain. She reached out, trying to touch her arm, but Jora shied away. Carmen's heart stung again, this time with the trust that had been irreparably damaged.

"Dr. Gardener…" Riker's mind shifted gears. He eyed the doctor's bag of supplies. "What else do you have in there?"

Gardener cast a nervous glance over his shoulder, where two long shadows stretched across the floor from the guards. "Nothing that can help you, I'm afraid."

"Help us," Carmen corrected.

The man's face pinched together. Though he fell silent, his internal struggle clamored in her Betazoid senses. Her eyes narrowed. Was he hiding something?

"Do you know where they're keeping our badges and weapons?" Riker asked, keeping his voice low.

Gardener shook his head vigorously. "No."

"Well how far away is Kotar?"

"He is just outside, overseeing the shuttle repairs. They should be finished soon."

"That's why we have to act fast," Riker insisted. "Dr. Gardener, you're our best shot right now. We have to get our badges. Or at least get our hands free-"

"I told you, I can't help!" the man rasped, glancing over his shoulder again. "Please do not put me in this position!"

But Riker persisted. "You have a trauma kit, do you not? Then you have something that can take care of this rope."

Gardener put a hand over his bag protectively. "No."

"No?" Riker tilted his head back, regarding the doctor with suspicion. Carmen shifted, coiling her feet beneath her. He was hiding something, she was sure of it now. But they didn't need him. They just needed his bag.

She launched herself towards it. The doctor shrieked in surprise, trying to snatch it away. Before he could, however, she rolled herself over the top of the bag and threw it back towards Riker as she came full circle.

"Stop that!" Gardener scrambled after the bag. Carmen blocked his way, buying Riker time. He hurried best he could for fear that the guards had already heard the scuffle.

"Don't you want to get out of here?" Carmen asked the doctor angrily. "Don't you want to see Keeling again?"

"It's too late for that!" he cried. "They're almost done with the shuttle! And when we leave, I have Kotar's word that-" His mouth clamped shut. He stepped back and lowered his eyes. "I am sorry. But I have to do this."

"Do what?" Carmen's heart leapt into her throat. His face was the face of a man who had made up his mind.

"Guards!" he shouted. "Guards, come quick!"

But they were already upon them, weapons drawn and levelled. Riker dropped the bag. Carmen seethed silently at the doctor's betrayal.

"What's going on?" Kotar's voice thundered against the stone walls, and his warning from earlier rang in the young woman's ears. The guards stepped aside as he plowed through their midst. His eyes darted between Carmen, Riker, and the bag.

"I tried to stop them," Gardener snivelled. "Honest, Kotar! I-"

"Silence!" He turned his glare on the doctor, who shrank back against the wall.

That's when Carmen made her move. If he was going to punish her anyway, then she might as well get a running start. She charged, ducking her head and ramming her shoulder into him full steam. He crashed to the ground with a roar of surprise. She followed, undeterred by the fact that her hands were still bound.

As he tried to come up on his side, she leaned across his chest and shoved one arm behind his head. Then, with her other arm over his throat, she squeezed her elbows together. The rope which had initially hindered her now ensured that he could not pry her hands apart and open the choke.

One of the guards intervened. He pried her off kicking and thrashing while the other guard kept Riker at bay with his disruptor. The commander agonized over his helplessness, a growing sense of dread rolling around his stomach like a stone. He knew Kotar would retaliate, and he knew that there was nothing he could do to stop him.

"That was an unwise decision," Kotar warned, drawing himself up to his full height and straightening his disheveled uniform. "I will make sure you come to regret it."

"No!" the commander shouted, surging forward as Kotar began his beating. The guards grabbed Riker, one on each side in the struggle to hold him back.

Jora whimpered fearfully. She hid her face, but still she could hear the repeated thuds followed by Carmen's sharp cries of pain. Riker fought desperately against his captors, yelling for Kotar to stop until his voice went hoarse. Nearby, the doctor merely hung his head in shame.

"Kotar!"

Someone shouted his name. The Romulan paused above Carmen, who lay hunched over her knees in a puddle of blood. "What is it, Tovain?" he snarled. Riker recognized the name as one of the officers who had been sent after Troi and Elion.

"It's Orreth. He's been badly injured."

"What? How?"

"Some kind of creature-I don't know, I didn't get a good look at it. But he needs help right away."

Kotar's blood cooled. "You," he said, pointing to the doctor. "Go with him. Now."

Gardener gathered his bag, slinking past Riker and the others as he followed Tovain out of the chamber. After they left, Kotar returned his attention to Carmen. He grabbed a fistful of raven hair and jerked her head up. "One more unwise decision, and it might be your last," he growled into her ear. Then he slammed her head into the ground before stalking away. The guards let Riker go, keeping their disruptors trained on him as they slowly backed towards their post outside the mouth of the cave.

Jora hurried to Carmen's side. Riker joined her and together, they helped the young woman roll onto her back. "It's alright. He's gone now," the commander crooned, trying not to wince at the sight of her battered face.

She grumbled something in Klingon. And then, to his surprise, she started to laugh. "Thank-you, Mr. Grolese!" she said, blood seeping through her toothy grin.

Riker's forehead creased with concern. Perhaps the beating had left her delirious. "Mr. Grolese?"

"Well, we are in his den," Jora said.

The commander looked around the chamber. "I suppose that explains the feathers on the ground. And the smell."

"And this." Carmen slowly opened her hand. "Kotar was so...preoccupied...that he didn't even notice when I picked it up."

Riker took it from her palm. It looked like a claw, black and curved and splintered on one end where it had broken away from its owner. He touched his thumb to the pointed tip. It proved sharp. Maybe even sharp enough to cut through rope.

In the meantime, Jora had retrieved the bowl left behind by Dr. Gardener and begun to slather blue paste onto Carmen's skin. "Here," she said, trying to sound reassuring. "This will stop the bleeding."

"Where...where are you?" Carmen mumbled. Her eyes rolled back in her head and then closed. Jora looked up at the commander. They exchanged a puzzled glance.

"Carmen?" Riker shook the young woman gently, swallowing the surge of apprehension rising from his gut. "Jora is right here. Can you hear us?"

Her eyes fought to open again. "No, I was talking to mom. I can't...I can't feel her."