Chapter 7 – Wrath of the Vulcan Hunters

Zia awoke with a gasp. She coughed and went to rub her face, but she couldn't move her arms. Wha…? She shook her head to clear it and glanced around. Okay, alone in a grey concrete room and tied to a chair. Wonderful.

Ow, her head pounded. So, did her shoulder, now that she thought about it… She twisted in her seat and spotted a puncture wound in her arm. Damn. Probably a tranquiliser of some sort. Who would want to shoot her?

A door behind her slammed open and she winced. Footsteps worked their way around the room and her mouth went dry.

"I hoped to never see you again." She swallowed. Dane Caster smirked and leant against the wall.

"That hurts," he mocked. "You know, I've wanted to see you in that chair for a while. I had to wait until you flew the nest, and then for the right opportunity to come along. That damn boyfriend of yours made everything impossible." He grinned and spread his arms. "But here we are."

She tilted her head. "What's going on?"

"Allow me to explain." Caster strolled up to the chair and put his boot on the arm and rested his elbow on it. "I'm a member of a group which call themselves 'Vulcan Hunters'. Your kind is an emotionless plague that humans seem hell-bent on grovelling to, just because you're so much smarter. So, we've made it our purpose to exterminate your entire race." A sadistic smile stretched across his face. "The Romulans made our job a whole lot easier."

"You-" Zia strained against her bonds. "What the hell do you do with Vulcans?"

"That's the best part," Caster grinned. His fist smacked her jaw. She recoiled and saw stars.

"People will be looking for us." She shook with rage. "You won't get away with this."

H laughed. "Don't kid yourself. No one's looking for you. They think you're spending some quality time with your boyfriend and they wouldn't want to disturb you now, would they?"

Her eyes glittered as she imagined kicking his sorry ass. "Keep going, I dare you. People will find us, and you'll get what's coming to you."

"Oh, I doubt it. Your kind doesn't care about you." He stroked her cheek and she thrashed. "But you know, you're not an official Vulcan and neither is your boyfriend. And I've been given authority to do whatever I want with you." He leant in close and brushed his nose against hers. "It's too bad you're a Vulcan," he breathed, "or I might actually think you were pretty."

She head-butted him with all the strength she could muster. He reeled back, his jaw slack, and blinked in confusion. Then he raised his fist.

o.O.o

A fist to the face brought Spock back into the world. He immediately attempted to defend himself, but he was tied to a chair. What was going on? Where was Zia?

'Zia are you injured?' he yelled. She was silent.

"Hey, filth!"

Another fist hit his face. He coughed and peered up at his assailant. "Who are you?"

"Vulcan Hunters you jerk," the man sneered. "You ain't gettin' outta here alive."

He regretted telling Kirk that he was going to spend the next couple days with Zia. No one would think anything of their disappearance. Talk about awful timing.

The door opened, and a familiar but unwelcome person entered. "She's out cold," Caster smirked.

Spock strained against his bonds. "What have you done with her?"

"I only gave her what was coming," Caster grinned. He swung a punch, but his fist sailed through empty air.

"It would not be wise for you to attempt that again."

The other man moved behind Spock and held his head in place. Caster made to punch again, but Spock flicked his head back and pushed the other man into the wall. BANG! Caster roared and grabbed Spock's Starfleet uniform.

"You're dead!" he screamed. After a few seconds he calmed. "Put them in the shielded cells, right next to each other. I wanna see how cocky he is then."

o.O.o

"No!"

Spock stared as Zia was dragged into the cell beside his. Caster dumped her and exited the cell.

"That look is priceless," Caster sniggered. He activated the force shield. "Aww, so close, yet so far. Have fun in hell."

He left the block and locked the door behind him. Spock couldn't care less about Caster. Zia didn't move. He flexed his wrists and moved as close to the thin shield as he dared.

"Zia, I am here."

She groaned and rolled over and he saw her face. Covered in green blood.

"Spock…" She reached out her hand.

"Do not-"

Her hand touched the force shield and she yelped as an electric current ran through her body. She sat up, her eyes wide.

"Spock, what's going on?" she whimpered.

"We have been put in cells." He raised his hand and held it at the shield. So close… yet so far.

"They're Vulcan Hunters." She raised her hands to her face and winced. "Their life goal is to kill Vulcans. Sad gits. When will Kirk get here?"

Spock shifted. "He will not realise of our disappearance for approximately two days. We merely need to survive until then." He met her eyes. "What did he do to you?"

A silence stretched out between them. Zia didn't have to tell him what had happened. He knew.

"I never thought I would have to go through this again," she whispered.

Their eyes met again, and she raised her own palm and held it right across from his. They stayed frozen like that for what felt like hours, palms close enough to touch, eyes that couldn't express what a mind-meld could.

Talk about bad timing.

'I'm sorry for dragging you into this.'

'Do not apologise. Do not think of apologising. I could never leave you to face this on your own.'

The pain was obvious. Tears welled in her eyes and she lay down, turned towards him. He settled down too and kept his gaze on her. There was no way he was going to voluntarily let her out of his sight.

'Caster's gone completely down the toilet.'

He had to chuckle at that. 'I do not doubt it. He did seem unhinged.'

'I never thought he would turn out so twisted, but then again I don't know much about him. What's creepy is that he seems to know everything about me.'

'He will pay for everything he has ever done to hurt you, this I promise.'

'I don't condone yet disprove that.'

'Everything he has done today deserves your vengeance. I promise we will escape.'

'I know. I've got the best Vulcan counterpart with me and he can figure out anything.'

'At this moment in time I calculate our odds of escape at 5.6%.'

'That's pessimistic.'

'I need time to evaluate our situation. Once that is completed, it will be easier for me to draw a conclusion.'

He felt the exhaustion overwhelm her and her eyes closed. How he wished he could hold her.

Caster was going to pay.