"Stop, please. Let me go." Samok pleaded. She simply shook her head and smiled,whipping him once more across the face.
The queen smiled as he howled again, but the smile slipped from her face as she looked behind him. He could hear the door open, and he felt another strike across the face.
"And who in the world are you?" she demanded of the newcomers, moving past him. "How did you get in here?"
"We disabled your guards. Release our friend, or we will take the appropriate actions against you." Samok recognized the voice as T'Pel's, and he sighed softly to himself in relief. But his relief was short-lived as the queen whipped him again across the back.
"He's mine. If you want him...you'll have to fight for him."
T'Pel cocked her brow and lunged at the woman. "So be it." A foot was lucky to catch the woman in the stomach and sent her to the floor, "Solok...T'Lara, get Samok down and away from here."
T'Lara and Solok went over and pulled his chained wrists from the hooks and pulled Samok off to the side.
"Are you sure engaging in combat while blind is a wise choice?" Larkin asked calmly, heading over to do his best inspection of Samok, Varel quietly moving around to flank the Queen.
"Wise...likely not. However, I do not much care at the moment." T'Pel said as she attempted to kick the queen, only to have her own feet knocked out from under her.
"A blind little bird trying to pick a fight with a well armed cat...how quaint." The Queen cooed, back handing T'Pel across the face, her large ring ripping into her skin.
T'Pel growled, tapping into the heat of her father's blood to shove the pain away, and tapping into her mother's blood to sense where the queen was. It was hard to do so in close proximity, as she was no sort of tricorder. But the sense did give her general direction, and T'Lara joined the fight on T'Pel's side, making it two against one. Both T'Pel and T'Lara had Vulcan strength, and with T'Lara's accurate punches, the queen was beginning to waver. But that only made her angrier, and an angry animal was a dangerous one.
After getting hit in the face, the Queen began a low chuckle as she glared at the women, "You have not disappointed...however, I will not lose." And with a snap of her fingers, everything changed.
They were no longer in the castle, from what they could tell. Instead they were now standing on a large platform that seemed to be suspended in air. A sickly like scenery was the back drop with tree's that looked like limbs and flesh of animals and the large lake was red as blood, with just a little bit of green forming at one end.
"Let us change the game. You all fancy yourselves thinkers and logicians. This should be a walk in the park for you." The Queen cooed, walking over to one end of the board where she took up a square. Then two rows of figures appeared around her.
"Chess." Varel stated and turned, looking to the opposite side, "I believe we are allowed to chose our placement as we are to be the pieces of the game."
T'Pel bit her tongue, simply wanting to just rip the woman's head off and be done with it, but she took a breath and calmed herself, "Then who will be where?"
T'Lara shrugged and pointed to the queen's square on their side, and Varel nodded. "Yes, you be the queen. I'll be the king. Larkin, be the bishop on my side, Solok on the other. T'Pel, be a rook."
They all got into place, but Varel looked around. "What of the other pieces?"
They all looked around then to the other side of the board where the Queen was doubled over with mad laughter, "Oh I'm sorry! Did I forget to tell you? You don't get other pieces...unless you want to use members of your crew, we can have them brought in." She calmed her laughter a moment.
"However I will warn you...this is no simple game of chess. Once a piece is lost...it is lost. Dead. So if you are taken...you die!" Her laughter continued.
"Q! I am unsure how I will accomplish this, but if we get out of this alive...I will have your head." T'Pel Growled, her hands tightly clenched.
Solok nodded resolutely, taking his place as a knight at Varel's changed orders, and he saw the others get in place. T'Lara looked slightly pale, Larkin was frowning, Varel looked resolute and T'Pel's eyes were burning in fury. She turned slightly toward him and nodded, and he wished he could tell her.
We will make it through, my lady, he called to her in his mind, knowing she couldn't hear him, yet doing it anyway. I will not let her harm you. I would rather give my life than see you die.
He could see her fury turn to cold resolution, and he focused.
The queen grinned. "Let the game begin!"
The Queen took the first move, of course. It took a few turns but it was time to see just what this game of chess entailed. Larkin had moved into position next to a pawn and a sword appeared in his hands, "I assume I strike?"
"Yes my dear...should you wish to live. Take too long, the pawn will yawn and kill you instead!" The Queen cackled.
Larkin raised the sword and with precision, brought it down threw the pawns head, crumbling the piece.
"Good aim for a blind man." T'Pel smiled, knowing he hit his target even if she could not see. She hated being alone on this side of the board when she couldn't see anything.
The game progressed. Solok almost got killed when Varel made a slight miscalculation, but then changed his mind at the last second. The queen was grinning on the other side of the board, snickering every time they made a move, so it made it very hard to know whether she was planning to retaliate or not.
They were out numbered, and one wrong move would mean death to any of them. So decorum be damned, T'Pel closed her eyes and locked onto the Queen's mind with hers, slipping in unnoticed, feeding the information to Varel.
Finally she got her chance to strike and a Naginata appeared, and deftly she spun the butt of the staff, knocking off the attacking bishops head then ramming the bladed end into it's chest. Only to stand at perfect attention. Keeping her cool so as not to lose the link she had obtained.
There was also a calming wave coming from somewhere, she wasn't sure where. It had began when she first felt herself begin to lose her temper.
Solok felt strange as T'Pel summoned a Naginata out of thin air: he felt a surge of anger, and immediately he repressed it as he had been taught to do. T'Pel deftly overtook their enemies, heading straight for the queen, and it seemed the game would come to an end by force. T'Pel was right in ending this, he decided. Lives were at stake, most particularly T'Pel's, Larkin's and his.
The Queen's eyes widened as T'Pel stopped two squares short of her, "How...how did you..." She stammered.
T'Pel raised her head and a smirk crossed her face, "In your attempts to cheat us out of a victory, I assumed it was proper that I do the same. However, I am prepared to give you the chance of an honorable defeat. You have almost killed my captain and the rest of my crew, but I am not so callous as you."
The Queen gave a snort, "Foolish. I don't give up and run like you." She moved a large sword from behind her and gave it a swing.
The Queen's twisted mind was threatening to invade her own. It was powerful, and the lure for cruelty was staggering, however, with no sight, she wasn't about to break her hold just yet, and blocked as the Queen brought her sword down to catch her at the neck.
Allowing herself to block and let the Queen expel her anger, giving away her battle tactics, she remained calm. Focused on every thought and every move.
Solok was overcome with another surge of anger, and he suppressed it again, wondering what in the world was happening to him. He could feel something else, something vicious pressing in on his mind, but he shoved that away as well, constructing mental barriers to keep the force out. Who knew what sort of things were lurking in this forsaken place?
T'Pel parried the Queen's thrust, spinning gracefully out of the way of her next strike, and they danced around each other. Solok wondered why T'Lara and Varel were not helping, but it seemed this battle was T'Pel's, and the others were not inclined to interfere.
Finally, after a long fight, T'Pel managed to slip behind the Queen and hold her sword to her throat.
"Surrender, or die!" T'Pel growled. "Let us go!"
The queen laughed, feeling T'Pels hand shake, "Coward. I never let my toys go. You will have to kill me."
T'Pel looked to where the others were, she couldn't see them and she was cursing the lack of sight. Their emotions were placid as they watched. No one had stopped her. She wondered why.
It seemed her link had been realized by the queen and the hybrid felt a tendril of a sickening wickedness creep in, and eyes wide she pushed the queen away and spun on her heel to allow the blow more force. Right at the moment the blade made contact with the Queen's neck, her sight returned and she could see the woman's head spin and that satisfied smiled on her lips.
Panic. Her heart nearly stopped as the connection broke and she fell to her knee's panting and trying to hold back the tears. There was red blood on her uniform. She killed the woman. Vulcan's are pacifists...this is not acceptable. What have you done, you fool?
The Queen's severed head and headless body disappeared in a flash of light, and everyone's disability went with it, save for Solok. He got his memory back, and he looked down at himself and felt a flash of shame before he shoved it away.
"What happened to her head and body?" T'Lara asked.
"It looks like Q took it away," Varel said, able to hear and reply accordingly. Larkin nodded.
"It seems that would be the case," he agreed. Solok looked to T'Pel, who looked stunned, numb. He automatically reached out to her with his mind, even though there was no mental connection between them, but he directed calming thoughts toward her.
There was applauding as Q walked up, "Well done. Well done indeed. How did it feel to kill the evil Red Queen?"
T'Pel just looked at his feet, "I did not enjoy it." However she then remembered Samok and his condition and jumped to her feet, getting nose to nose with Q, "What kind of barbarian are you? In all my studies of you, never have I seen you go to such lengths to harm others. How cruel are you?!" She yelled, walking away from him lest her temper get the best of her. Her eyes fell on Solok, and the young features of his face looking kindly at her allowed her to calm herself.
She would not act like this in front of him any longer.
Solok felt a surge of anger as T'Pel stormed up to Q, but before he could suppress it, she turned away from the being and walked toward him, and he felt the anger dissipate of its own accord. He was left confused, but T'Pel twisted back to face Q.
"Where is Samok, and why have you not returned Solok to his original form?"
Q looked to little Solok and gave a smirk, "I kind of like the pint sized captain. Bring him down a notch." He looked back to T'Pel and his gazes softened, as if he actually may have felt regret, "As for your commander, I had thought you lot would have gotten to him sooner. I was in the process of deciding if I should intervene or not when you finally walked in to save the day. So I let you continue to handle it."
He walked up close to her and cocked a brow just as a Vulcan may do, "You all escaped with your lives, thanks to your own abilities and team work. Just as a Starfleet crew should. Can you really scold me when you have been so successful?"
T'Pel swallowed. He had a point, and it was her own emotions that were clouding her thoughts. He lifted a hand under her chin and raised her face to look at him, his eyes scanning hers a moment, "Shunning your Betazoid abilities is foolish. They served you well. The control is yours and always has been." He gave a smirk, "Not to mention you have beautiful eyes. Like event horizons...they will draw you in and never let go."
He shot a playful look to Solok, "Careful captain...you may just be that victim."
She sighed, "Bad pick up lines aside, please return Solok to his original form. It will not do to have a child as a Captain...as capable as he may be. No one will take him seriously."
"Oh, but it'd be so much fun!" Q protested, then sighed. "All right..."
He snapped his fingers and Solok was returned to his normal form, and with another snap of his fingers, they were back on the bridge of the T'Kumbra.
The bridge crew looked at them in confusion and Solok looked around, "Where is Samok?" He almost glared at Q.
Q put his hands up, "Have no fear mon capitan. I sent him to sick bay to receive medical attention."
Solok gave a nod, "Good. Now will you..." He glanced at T'Pel who seemed to tense up when she knew he was going to spout off another order, then thought better of it, "...kindly depart my ship?"
Q smirked and snapped his fingers, and the bridge was free of the omnipotent being. "See you," came his voice, "out there..."
T'Pel sighed and returned to her station, but Solok left the bridge and went to sickbay, Larking at his heels. Samok was there, lying on his stomach, being tended to by a nurse. Larkin took over and started healing his wounds, and Solok could see that his first officer was coming to consciousnesses.
"Captain?" He whispered, then attempted to get up.
Solok placed a hand on his shoulder gently, "Do not get up. There is still damage to your back. We are back aboard the T'Kumbra."
"What happened? How did we get back?" Samok asked.
"We finished what ever test Q had set us up in. He is...gone for now. I believe." Solok answered, placing his hands behind his back. He did not enjoy seeing Samok like this, but as expected he was handling it well.
Larkin gave Samok a pain killer from the hypo-spray began healing the lashes the commander endured and he looked to Solok, unable to hide the look of shock, "Suffice it to say, you are a stronger man then I, Samok."
Samok frowned. "I do not...feel strong, captain. I nearly..." He stopped and set his head back down, closing his eyes and mouthing something Solok recognized as a mantra. He gave his first officer a curt nod and bowed his head to Larkin.
"Take care of him," he ordered, then left sickbay for the bridge.
T'Pel was still there, working at her station, running routine scans, her eyes focused on her work.
"Lieutenant," he said softly, standing behind her. She turned around and looked at him, and he gestured his head to his ready room.
T'Pel gave a nod and stood, following him. She had figured he went to check on Samok and was a little worried at what news he had, "Yes, Captain? I trust Samok is...alive?" She asked, and hoped.
Solok walked around his desk and sat, "Yes. Larkin is tending to him as we speak."
T'Pel sighed slightly in relief, then directed her gaze at him. "I am...not sure what to think of what we went through, captain. But, I will say...for a man who had lost his memories, you were very brave." She let slip the tiniest smile. "You kept calling me 'T'Sai'."
He looked to his desk and gave a nod, his eyes showing signs of the memories scanning through his mind, "My father taught me to be polite. You also handled the situation with great accord. I am...impressed."
His eyes moved to hers and he clasped his hand together thoughtfully, "You would be a fine parent. Aside from the occasional violent out burst." His brow raised slightly, his clasped hands hiding a small smirk.
Her eyes twinkled with amusement, and she bowed her head. "Thank you, captain, for the complement. I was simply looking out for my captain."
MY Solok... The words came out of nowhere, but he pushed them away and the pleasure that rippled through him at the memory.
"You are a competent officer, T'Pel. Thank you...for looking out for me."
She gave a small nod, feeling a flare of something that was quickly gone. She ignored it and straightened, "I assume you will want us all to write a report about this...encounter with Q?"
Her mind was fighting against the memory of their meld, and she was unsure if she should even bring it up. No, she would leave that up to him.
He could sense her reluctance, and after a moment of pondering it, came up with the answer. "There is no need for Starfleet to know that we melded, lieutenant. Simply state that we...helped each other and worked together. If they have questions at Command, I will answer them."
"Aye, sir," she said softly. "Is there anything else?"
He blinked, wanting to bring up this strange bouts of insight he was being bombarded with, but he could not bring himself to. It was likely something that he could meditate away tonight. "No, dismissed."
She gave one last nod before standing, taking one last look at his features, "I am glad to have you back to normal, however, you were a very agreeable child, Captain." And she turned to head out, not being able to shake the odd feeling in the back of her mind, though she figured it was simply a result of their endeavor. Her shift was nearly over, and she had planned on a good bit of meditation and perhaps a bath. Her tense muscles required the heat.