14

The Vulcanorion Connection

Chapter Six: A Chaotic Capture

The eight hostages sat silently in the holding area, a large abandoned warehouse at the edge of the Nili Fossae Compound. Their hands and feet had all been bound, and so movement was difficult at best. Maxine had lain her head on her father's chest, and Forrest was speaking softly to her, trying to reassure her that all would be well, and that they would be rescued.

Soval wished that young Maxine could have more reason to hope, but he was becoming less certain of that with each passing hour. Talcon had been brought to another area, where the kidnappers were "questioning" him. The main leader of the gang was a large Andorian Than named Th'Orran. Thus far, he had proved himself to be both aggressive and sadistic. He seemed to glory in their fear. His associate, the Vulcan named Valk, seemed a little less inclined to bully them, but he was indifferent to their plight. Apparently, his only interest lay in demanding rights for the Tribal people of Vulcan; if so, he was going about it in exactly the wrong way. If Soval could have just a minute with him, he thought that there might be a possibility of convincing him of the consequences of his traitorous act and changing his mind. He could not, however, get through to Valk because the wayward Vulcan was constantly accompanied by Th'Orran, whose cruelty threatened anyone who dared to express an opinion. He was becoming quite concerned about Talcon, who had been gone for a long time.

The Vulcanorion who had been guarding them was now being relieved from duty by Kelsad, who took the laser rifle and stood, expressionless, staring straight ahead. The pair of antennae on his head stood as straight as he was, and his black hair hung down over his partially covered pointed ears. As Soval observed the young "Vulcandorion", he noticed a certain lack of confidence in him, something which did not seem to plague the other members of his group. As he looked into Kelsad's eyes, he noticed that the young man lowered his gaze slightly, as though unsure of what he had become involved with. Soval closed his eyes and took a deep breath before attempting to speak with the young Orion Hybrid. He knew that they had to begin somewhere if they were to regain their freedom.

"Kelsad," he finally ventured, "What do you hope to gain from this criminal action? Surely you know that it will only result in either imprisonment or death for you and your fellows?"

"Do not attempt to speak with me, Old Man!" Kelsad snarled, as menacingly as he could manage, "Th'Orran warned me that you would attempt to charm me with idle promises!"

"I hardly think that imprisonment and death are idle promises, when you have kidnapped two members of the Vulcan Consulate, a Starfleet Admiral, a Tour Guide, two Diplomacy students, and two innocent children, not to mention our Security Guard. Tell me, Kelsad, do you intend to torture all of us, or has that particular privilege been reserved solely for Talcon?"

Kelsad stared ahead of himself, his face wearing a blank, frozen look. It was as if he could not believe what he had just done.

"I will answer none of your questions, Soval," he said finally, "If I were you, I would not speak out against your capture too loudly. Th'Orran has this room bugged, and you are under constant surveillance. You will not escape, and you cannot negotiate your way out of this."

"I imagine that no one will be negotiating with any of you," Soval retorted, "You will simply be killed, whether or not we survive the rescue attempt. You must know that? Your cause will then be set back for many, many years. You will not help your people."

"What do you know of my cause?" Kelsad shouted, "And who are my people—the Vulcans? The Andorians? The Orions? The Humans? Perhaps I am simply weary of living my life as a multi-species freak!"

"Ambassador," Forrest whispered to Soval, "Let's back off of this guy, okay? At least until my people and yours figure out a way to get the kids out. Maxine is pretty traumatized by all of this."

"We will be rescued, Maxine!" Sethir reassured her, "Do not fret. Don't let them see that you're afraid...they will think that they have won!"

"They have won!" Maxine countered, her voice trembling, "We're tied up in a warehouse where no one can find us!"

"Sethir!" Fer'at scolded the boy, "You will be quiet. We do not want to draw their attention to you and Maxine. Soval—I have been observing these people. Kelsad and the others are, I believe, ready to die for whatever cause they believe in. It will do us no good to try to appeal to their rationality, for they have none."

Kelsad had moved closer to Fer'at, Soval noticed with great discomfort. He could only hope that the psychiatrist would have enough sense not to call Kelsad 'The Andorian' again.

"You, Fer'at!" Kelsad growled, "You never thought I was good enough for your daughter, did you?"

"Kelsad," Fer'at replied to him, keeping his voice as calm as he could, "You are pointing a laser rifle at me. How do you expect me to respond to your question—by giving you my blessing?"

Kelsad glared at Fer'at for a full minute before backing off and returning to his more neutral and expressionless guard's pose.

"Dad," Sorral called to him softly, "Do you and Dr. Fer'at know that guy—Kelsad?"

"He was the intended mate of Jovan, Sorral," Soval whispered, "I caution you to be silent at the present time."

The group fell back into silence for a time. Finally the doors thundered open and Th'Orran the Andorian strode in, accompanied by Valk and two of his men, who were dragging a bruised and bloodied Talcon with them. As the doors slammed shut, they threw Talcon to the floor in front of his fellow prisoners. The young Security officer tried to stand, but was forced down to his knees by Th'Orran. Talcon's green blood oozed out of a cut on his forehead, and his face was covered in green bruises.

"Will you look at the Mighty Guard Talcon?" Th'Orran announced to them, "He is so green now that perhaps he finally knows how Orions feel when they walk into a room and are shunned. This is how well your so-called 'Security Guard' has protected you!"

"Talc!" Olivine cried, in great distress, "Please, Mr. Th'Orran, don't hurt him anymore—I beg you!"

"Don't defend me, Olivine," Talcon told her, "It will only make things worse."

"Well, well," Th'Orran taunted them, "What have we here? Surely the son of Sirtek The Superior One has not taken up with an inferior Human woman? Are you, a married man, the clandestine lover of Ms. Fossa, 'Talc'? And would your noble father not be ashamed of you if he knew? I will need to mention that when I send in our 'Hostages' Report', which I have graciously offered to provide to your families."

"Dad!" Sorral whispered to his father, "We need to do something—I mean, Talcon and I don't really get on that well, but I hate seeing him like this—we can't let this bullying of him proceed much further or he's going to collapse!"

"Silence, Sorral," his father replied tersely, "Talcon is a Vulcan Security Guard. He will have been trained to suppress his pain."

"Talcon," Th'Orran ordered him, "I want you to apologize to me, right here in front of your compatriots and friends. Apologize for your rudeness and arrogance towards my people, and the Orion Hybrid people. I want to hear you surrender your Vulcan pride."

"I apologize," Talcon replied, obeying the command with little emotion in his voice, "I apologize to you, Th'Orran, to your people, and to the Vulcanorions to whom I have behaved rudely and arrogantly. I surrender my Vulcan pride to you."

Th'Orran regarded Talcon as if disappointed.

"No, I'm afraid that won't do," he opined snidely, "I want to hear you grovel before me. You'd better grovel well, or I'll take your Human girlfriend for questioning next."

Talcon's eyes betrayed his fear, which pleased Th'Orran immensely. Soval tried to transmit to the young man as much meditative peace as he could muster under the circumstances. Talcon caught his eye, and drew in a breath.

"I...Talcon...have disgraced myself in speaking rudely to your people, Th'Orran," he stammered, less in control of his emotions now, "I ask you to take your vengeance out on me, and not on these good people before me. You know that I am the one who deserves your wrath, and therefore you should focus your efforts on me alone. I now realize the gravity of my errors, and I ask...I beg your forgiveness..."

"Yes, that's much better!" Th'Orran crowed victoriously, "Please, continue your groveling, Talcon, so that I can capture it all on our recording monitor. We want to send it to your father as a gift."

Talcon continued on in much the same vein, becoming less sure of himself with every word. Soval knew what Th'Orran was trying to do. Vulcans were very adept at suppressing physical pain, and so they weren't much fun for people like Th'Orran to torture. He could, however, use Talcon's relationships with others to manipulate his behavior. At present, the young Security Guard was being used to humiliate Vulcans in general, and Sirtek in particular...which told Soval that Th'Orran's real cause was likely revenge. He doubted very much if a man such as Th'Orran cared about people like Kelsad or Valk, who wanted to make a strong statement on behalf of the rights of their people.

Talcon had halted his speech of submission, and was hanging his head in shame. Soval fought to suppress his rage at Th'Orran. Right now, he wanted to reach out and rip out the Andorian's liver, but he knew that would not help Talcon.

"Oh, how I love to see Vulcans grovel!" Th'Orran cried out in victory, "Very well, Talcon, I think you have been conquered well enough to please me. You may lie beside your lover Olivine and rest now."

Olivine looked at Th'Orran as though she would have liked to murder him, but she said nothing as Talcon staggered over to her and dropped down, exhausted from his ordeal. She moved as close as she could to him, given that her hands and feet were tied, and whispered encouragement. The rest of them lowered their eyes, as if by doing so they would avoid attracting Th'Orran's attention.

"Now," Th'Orran asked them, "Who would like to go next? I am particularly fond of tormenting Vulcans, but perhaps I am being too prejudiced. I should try a Human next! What about you, Admiral Forrest? You're a Military Man. You could withstand my love and care..."

"No!" Maxine shrieked, "No! Don't you take my Daddy!"

"Th'Orran," Soval quickly distracted the Andorian, "Surely a man as strong and courageous as you does not want to spend his time upsetting children! Take me, since I am Vulcan...and you do seem to have a particular vendetta against us. I am the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth. Would you not like to send forth a recording of me groveling to you? Perhaps you could send it to the Vulcan High Command, and use it to underline your grievances with Vulcan...for it is the Vulcans, and not the Humans, with whom you have had problems. Am I correct?"

"Yes, indeed you are, Soval!" Th'Orran agreed, "and I do believe that you were one of those nasty creatures who served almost a century ago at our former colony of Weytahn—the one you people call Paan Mokar—and stole it from us, displacing the colonists. My grandfather was, in fact, one of those murdered by your lot, did you know that?"

"The conflict was most regrettable. We lost people on both sides because of our failure to negotiate."

"Mostly, 'we' lost people on the Andorian side! The Vulcans who died deserved their fates, seeing as how they were the main aggressors."

"Is that what this is about, Th'Orran? A century-old conflict between Vulcans and Andorians? Why involve the Humans, if that is the case? Perhaps you would do well to set the Humans free, since this is their world. They have nothing to do with any of this."

"Yes, they do!" Valk cried, "The issue that we are fighting for has nothing to do with your ridiculous conflict over a dead planetoid. We are Vulcanorions, and the Shir'Kaya Vulcans who mate with them. We understand that Sirtek, the great Scientist\Mars Envoy, has been involved in discussions with the Earth Minister Nathan Samuels about a plan to exterminate our people through the creation of a so-called 'Destroyer Gene' which is to be implanted into certain unsuspecting Orion females and which will either kill or severely disable any Hybrid fetus which is conceived. The plan will no doubt involve either kidnapping and drugging our females, or bribing them with empty promises of a better life on Earth. Once the gene becomes active within our population, it will take away our ability to reproduce by eliminating our young—particularly the females. We thought that we would be pro-active in the fight against this and hold you hostage before you have a chance to do the same to us."

"It is odd, Valk," Soval responded, "that I saw no Orion females among you when you took us hostage."

"They are there, in the background," Valk assured him, "and they support us, since we are doing this to save our people. We intend to create many protests such as this one, to remind you that we, too, have the right to procreate without interference. I myself am a Vulcanorion, although it does not show in my skin pigmentation."

"Tell me more about this 'Destroyer Gene', Valk. I have never heard of it before," Soval encouraged him.

"You do not need to know anything about it, Soval!" Th'Orran shouted, as if attempting to regain his authority, "I have just been informed that I have two more hostages. They will be coming to join you shortly."

"Perhaps," Soval continued, "If you were to communicate your issues to me, I could make a case for you. If you are to garner support for your cause amongst the Humans, I assure you that kidnapping them is a very poor way to begin the conversation."

"You will be silent, Old Man!" Th'Orran screamed, "Do not try to con us with your idle promises. You will not speak for us, but rather you will betray us to the authorities. Do you think we are so stupid? Perhaps I will take you up on your offer, and have you grovel before me. I like your idea of sending the recording to the Vulcan High Command..."

"No, Th'Orran!" Valk cried, "Enough of these games! We did not have you join us so that you could injure our cause with your sadistic little tricks. It is overkill! We can use this old sehlat to speak for us—as long as he and his friends are in our custody, I believe we can get him to do it. If you persist in sending out these idiotic transmissions, however, the Humans will lose patience and storm the whole building."

"The Humans are too weak for that!" Th'Orran bellowed back at Valk, "I warned you, Valk, about challenging my authority..."

"I told you that your 'authority' was only for the initial hostage-taking. After that, you were to cede all decisions to me!"

"Ah...was I? Well, I have changed my mind. You are obviously as weak as the Humans, Valk. We cannot have such a one as you in a leadership position. Should I torture you next, Valk? Kelsad—bind Mr. Valk's hands and feet and put him over there with the hostages."

Kelsad stared at Th'Orran in horrified shock. He had obviously not been expecting this sudden dispute between his two leaders. He hesitated.

"Kelsad..." Th'Orran began menacingly; he stopped when his two other men turned their laser rifles on him.

"Kelsad," Valk commanded the young man, "bind Th'Orran's hands and feet—and leave him here with the hostages."

"You cannot do this!" Th'Orran thundered, "You gave me your word of honor, Valk! You said that I would command this venture with you...I should have known that I could not trust a Vulcan...you vile snake!"

"I gave you my word of honor that I would let you command this protest with me, Th'Orran—not over me. You have been disrespecting and disobeying almost every command that I have given you since we took the hostages. Your usefulness has come to an end. It is now your turn to grovel."

Th'Orran gave a blood-curdling yell and threw himself against Valk, knocking him down. Kelsad finally came out of his state of indecision and stunned Th'Orran by butting his head with the end of his laser rifle. He then quickly cuffed the former leader's hands and feet with extra-strong double-shackles, which he had been keeping in his satchel in case of an emergency.

Valk ordered the two Vulcanorion men to throw Th'Orran in the corner, near the hostages. He turned to Soval.

"Old Man, we will no longer be tormenting you or the others. You are under our custody until such time as the authorities either kill us or capture us. If I make it possible, will you honor your earlier offer to us and give them our message? You will talk to Sirtek over our communication channel. He is threatening to storm the building with his officers, whether or not it kills you and the others. The Humans are more concerned about your welfare, and they are holding him off, for now. You know what it is to live in Shir'Kaya, with its miserable conditions. It would be in all our interests that you speak for us, clearly and concisely."

"Valk," Soval began, "of all the extremist groups that I have been forced to communicate with, I must say that yours is the most disorganized of them all. If you want me to speak for you to Sirtek and the Humans, I need to know what your goals are, clearly and concisely. Am I to speak to the issue of the disputed Andorian/Vulcan colony world, or the conditions in Shir'Kaya, or this...'Destroyer Gene' that you have told us about?"

"I told you—I don't care about that ridiculous Andorian-Vulcan dispute. That was Th'Orran's concern, and he is now out of this mission. The conditions in Shir'Kaya have created this problem because the Vulcan government has not been doing what it should to eliminate the Drug Lords who lure us into enslavement to the Orion Drug Traders. We believe it is part of a Vulcan plan to eliminate us slowly, through our own addiction and despair. It is part of the problem, and you can communicate that to them; but the main issue is the Earth's interest in Sirtek's 'Destroyer Gene' scheme. He wishes to exterminate us by creating a diseased population which can no longer reproduce. We consider this to be a form of genocide! From what we understand, Minister Nathan Samuels has been in conversation with Sirtek, and he is bringing the information to the other Ministers. Earth and Mars represent our last hope for a decent life, for ourselves and for our children. Both Vulcan and Andoria have cast us aside. If we had staged this protest on either of those worlds, all of us would be dead by now...they would have simply blown us to bits before we had any opportunity to communicate our needs."

"Valk," Forrest finally broke into the conversation, tension lining his voice, "Why didn't you just come and talk to us? You must know that this action has given those Ministers who would be interested in such a 'Destroyer Gene' the necessary fuel to argue for its implementation! There are many in our government who I know would not support the idea of genetic manipulation in order to deal with the influx of Orion visitors. But now...the few who are interested in Sirtek's idea will argue that Orion people are all barbaric aliens who want to harm Humans!"

Valk stared ahead of himself for a moment before answering.

"You would not have spoken with us," he replied to Forrest, "You would have been like the Vulcans and Andorians, telling us that our concerns were not important to you, because most of us are very poor and powerless."

"If you think we're just like the Vulcans and Andorians," Forrest asked in an exasperated tone, "then why do you want to settle here so badly?"

"Valk," Sorral suddenly jumped into the conversation, to his father's annoyance, "I've been raised on Earth. I know the Humans, and I also know the Vulcans because my parents are from the Vulcan home-world. Believe me; Humans are much more open than either the Vulcans or the Andorians to others! They accepted me, an alien, into their midst, and they would accept your people, too. But you have to learn to trust a little more. You can't get what you want by beginning the conversation with violence!"

"Violence is all non-Hybrids understand," Valk murmured, "The minute any population hears that it is 'in danger' of being 'hybridized', it loses all compassion for those who had no say in the matter to begin with. This scheme for hybridizing other species was started by the Orion Syndicate—a group of people who are considered by almost every Orion Hybrid to be our enemies because they only want to use us to conquer other worlds. We, however, will not cooperate with them. We only want dignity and life for our children! We do not care about our own lives. Let us die speaking out for our future."

"But-you don't have to die, Valk!" Forrest's son Mark interjected, "I've got a whole load of my class-mates who would make incredible arguments for your people, if only you'd risk trusting Humans long enough to give us a chance to offer you something."

Valk was beginning to appear as though he were uncertain as to his plan. It was as if he had embarked on his hostage-taking venture with little fore-thought, but only his desperation and resentment to empower himself and his rag-tag group.

They were interrupted once again as the doors to the warehouse were flung open and a group of Vulcanorions and Vulcan-Andorian Hybrids marched in. They threw two new hostages to the ground, one Human and the other an Andorian. Their hands were already bound, and Kelsad went over to them hastily to bind their feet.

Soval recognized both men as Minister Nathan Samuels and the Andorian Ambassador, Ka'Jar Ch'Zhek. Before anyone had a chance to speak to them, however, a particularly large Vulcan-Andorian bellowed, "What is this? Valk, why is Th'Orran shackled and unconscious?"

"Th'Orran is no longer in command!" Valk boomed authoritatively, "I am. He has been playing stupid games with the hostages, and he must be disciplined for it! Do not challenge me on this, Zallyn."

Zallyn, a huge man with a green complexion, white hair, pointed ears, and a pair of Andorian antennae, looked as if he was preparing himself to attack Valk. Valk gestured at the two Vulcanorion guards, who pointed their guns at Zallyn.

"You will end up like Th'Orran, if you defy me, Zallyn," Valk told him angrily.

"This was not what we agreed to," he muttered, but he did not move against the new Leader.

"We of Andorian heritage are the ones who brought you these two high-value hostages," another Vulcan-Andorian, who had blue skin and black hair, added, "We have risked much. Is this how you repay us, Valk? By binding our leader and turning him into a hostage?"

"We will discuss this further, on our own," Valk responded to the two malcontents, "not in front of the hostages. They already think us disorganized as it is."

Valk left orders for three guards, in addition to Kelsad, to stand watch over the prisoners. As they left, Minister Samuels pulled himself up into a sitting position and let out a heavy breath.

"Are you all right, Ambassador Ka'Jar?" he asked the Andorian diplomat.

"I am as well as can be expected," Ka'Jar replied, "This is typical of Orion hostage-taking on Andoria: they are disorganized, their leaders fight one another—chaos and confusion, all around. I feel most discouraged that they have already begun their criminal activity on the Human worlds, even before the Humans have had a chance to oppress them! I suppose this is what they would call being 'pro-active'. Hello, Soval. It is good to see you again. I wish we were meeting under more favorable circumstances."

"Ambassador Ka'Jar," Soval responded, "And Minister Samuels. It is agreeable to welcome you both into our new abode."

"Minister Samuels, Ambassador Ka'Jar," Forrest interjected, "Are either of you injured? Some of these guys have been pretty rough, especially on that poor Vulcan kid over there."

"We're okay," Samuels responded, "But you're right, Admiral—it looks to me as if Sirtek's son has taken a real beating. This whole mess is all because of something called a 'Destroyer Gene' that Sirtek and his group of scientists have engineered specifically to stop the spread of Orion hybridization of different species...this is what we were supposed to have talked about at the briefing tomorrow. I wish we had never gotten into it, but certain ministers in the government wanted to know about Sirtek's discovery because they felt threatened by all the Orion people who were coming through Mars with hopes of settling on Earth. Most of them only want to escape the Orion Drug Traders, but there are a few like these clowns who have just captured us, who think that violence will solve their problems."

"Valk has recently told us about the 'Destroyer Gene' thing," Forrest replied, "If they'd just have come to us first, to talk to us. We could have opened a dialogue about it, at least. But now...these guys have just screwed their own cause."

"They will be made to pay for this, Admiral Forrest," Ka'Jar remarked darkly, "The Mars, Vulcan, and Andorian security forces will cast aside their differences for now and will work together to free us. The Humans want to try communication first, before risking your lives in a more forceful encounter. They want to negotiate the release of the two children first, and then possibly the students and the Tour Guide. That fool, Th'Orran, wished to keep the children for greater leverage, but I see that Th'Orran has already been taken out. Our would-be liberators may have more luck with this Valk character, as he does not wish to try the patience of government officials quite as badly as the Th'Orran did."

Soval took a minute to centre himself as the words of his colleagues settled into his mind. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the Admiral's daughter, Maxine, was not coping well. Mark Forrest was attempting to soothe her, but she was sobbing convulsively.

"Damn it," Forrest swore, deeply concerned for his daughter's welfare, "We've got to get Maxine and Sethir out of here. Ambassador, is there any way to reason with Valk? To convince him to at least let the two youngest kids go, if not the older two as well?"

"I'm not leaving you, Dad," Mark told his father stoically.

"Yes, you will, if we can arrange it," Forrest told his son firmly, "I need you to help support Maxine, Mark."

"And you will go to accompany Sethir, Sorral," Soval told his son, "If it is possible for us to negotiate such a release."

"What about everyone else, Dad?" Sorral asked, "I'd feel weird leaving all of you behind with these crazy kidnappers."

"You will do what is necessary, Sorral," Soval stated tersely, "I do not want to see you or Sethir being given the same treatment that Talcon received. Neither of you have been properly trained in pain suppression. You would not withstand it."

"Talc barely withstood it, Ambassador," Olivine added, "And he needs to receive medical care. If there are hostages freed, he needs to go with them."

"I am in charge of your security, Olivine!" Talcon objected, "As well as that of the others. I cannot abandon my duty in order to look after myself. It is my fault that we are here in the first place, and I refuse to leave until this situation has been resolved."

"This is not your fault, Talc!" Olivine exclaimed, "Blast your bloody sense of Vulcan duty."

Soval led Talcon through a couple of self-healing techniques in order to quell the tension between the Security Guard and his friend Olivine Fossa. He understood the young man's reluctance to leave, and his tendency to blame himself for the whole fiasco.

"Mr. Talcon," Soval said to the young man after the self-healing techniques were complete, "You must not waste your energy in self-recrimination. It will do us no good. You took what action you deemed necessary in order to protect us, but there were a large group of them and you are only one man. You attempted to sacrifice yourself through volunteering for more torture sessions so that the others would be spared that treatment. Can you not simply accept that you have done what you could under difficult circumstances?"

Th'Orran the Andorian began to stir as they spoke. He groggily pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Talcon is right!" Th'Orran expostulated, "He has failed to protect you, and his father Sirtek will do the same. He will abandon you all to die at the hands of the joint Vulcan/Andorian/Human forces."

"Who the hell asked you, Th'Orran?" Olivine screamed, "You're out of the mission, didn't you hear Valk? You just keep your big blue mouth shut!"

The tensions were growing as the time wore on, Soval realized. He had no idea what the authorities were planning, but he knew that they needed to remain calm if they were to have a chance of survival.

"Sirtek is not in charge of this situation, Th'Orran," Soval informed him, "It is doubtful that the Security forces will be acting on his orders alone. We are on a Human world, not a Vulcan or Andorian colony. The Humans will have the final say, and so it is premature to make predictions based upon little more than your biased assumptions."

"I must say, Th'Orran," Talcon interjected, "That it is little wonder that you are so obsessed with my father. You remind me a great deal of him."

"When my men free me, Talcon," Th'Orran growled onerously, "You will pay for that particular insult."

While they had been speaking, Kelsad had moved closer to Soval, until he was standing over him. He untied his foot shackles and drew him up.

"Valk has called for you, Old Man," Kelsad informed him, "We are ready for you to make our statement for us."

"Tell Valk that I will make the statement, Kelsad," Soval replied, "But that I require the release of at least four of the younger hostages in return. The two children, especially, must be freed or I will make no statement for you."

Kelsad pushed him roughly towards the door in response.