{ Weaving Stage VI: Reconnaissance & Interrogation }
"She was unaware."
Silence.
"...Are you out of your Vulcan mind? For hell's sake, Spock-! How could you cryogenically freeze someone in the 21st century without them knowing? It'd be like- like a woman in the Stone Age getting a kidney transplant and being 'unaware' of it-!"
"Spock, how can you be sure?"
"I calmed her mind and she called out to me."
"Oh for the love of-"
"Bones, come on."
"I'm just-
"She must have a high level of intelligence and psychic ability, most likely an effect of augmentation."
"So you've never met-?"
"I have never met a human with such empathic sensitivity and mental articulation."
I recognized Dr. McCoy's voice:
"Her blood is strange, similar to his-"
His?
"-obviously I can't exactly compare them side by side, but her DNA has a considerable amount of flaws while his was...mechanical in its perfection, even so, we're probably dealing with the same type of person..."
Holy shit, they're experimenting on me...
"What were the dates again?"
Spock- "I estimate she was suspended between 2006.268 and 2012.60."
What the hell does that mean?
"At least two and a half centuries!"
My brow twitched and I felt my breath catch in my chest.
Telling my body to relax, to mimic sleep, seemed to only prompt my nerves to spur randomly.
But maybe they wouldn't notice.
This is where I am. This.
Despair was a cold clamping around my core.
Dizzy.
I'd been waiting to hear their plan- what they're going to do with me.
If they're not involved in the war or the project- why would they have me handcuffed? Why was I being treated like a criminal-?
"At least two and a half centuries!"
Unless history was speaking for me.
Crying from the rooftops a history unknown to me.
I opened my eyes despite the coiling urge to hide.
"Excuse me."
Some hours had passed since I had last eavesdropped via feigning sleep- the captain was gone, so was the elven man and McCoy. Three men and one woman in red uniforms stood on either side of the door across from the my bed.
They stared at me with wide eyes- one crossed his arms defensively, flexing his biceps.
"Excuse me," I repeated. "Can I- can I speak to…"
Who?
Who would you talk to?
The captain who had you handcuffed?
The doctor who was testing and examining your blood?
The elven man- the one you know the least about?
Place your bets.
But I couldn't finish my request properly because I didn't know the elf's name.
"Is there- someone I can speak to?" I tried again. "The doctor- McCoy?"
Second resort, not too bad...
The woman looked at me strangely then pulled out a black device that flipped open like a cell phone.
"Silvestri to the captain," She spoke into it.
"Kirk here." The strange phone sounded back.
"Subject 73 is awake and requesting parlay."
"No- no, I just want to talk to someone-" I tried to explain but they ignored me, the captain answering quickly:
"I'm coming now. Kirk out."
I stared at Silvestri, my heart sinking as I realized I might as well be going to the principal's office.
Or waiting for Dad to come home from work to yell at you.
Shit.
I heard a sound and looked behind me to see another door open automatically and McCoy entered.
"Wrenne," He gave a nod and a smile. "Nice to see you up," He sat down and fiddled with something on a table across the room. "How are you feeling?"
I didn't know what to say so I kept quiet.
McCoy came to the bed- a soft mattress now, not the cold metal from earlier- (had they moved me?)
I set my jaw, biting down on my cheeks- nervous as he maneuvered with a gray, tubular instrument that gave a steady chirp.
I tensed as he brandished it over me.
"It's alright," He reassured me, that reliable, hardy face of his. "This just gives me your vitals- doesn't even hurt."
I still watched the instrument carefully as it swept up my torso, down my legs, across my temples.
"No headache today," He smiled. "...heart rate's still- hmm…" He furrowed his brow. "Feeling a lot of anxiety, huh? I can give you something to help you feel calmer-."
"No," I responded so quickly that I heard my voice before it all registered in my head.
"Alright," McCoy nodded, looking at a small tablet in his other hand. "Whatever's comfortable for you- your heart rate isn't dangerously high, just rather rapid…"
"Doctor-," My mouth needed to pace itself, my reactions couldn't keep up- but I went on anyway: "I don't want to see the captain. I want to see the other man-."
Ironically on cue, the door swept aside and Kirk came in with the elven man by his side. I noticed their uniform colors were different- the captain still in gold and the taller man was in blue like McCoy. The doctor walked over to them.
"Jim, Spock, could you give me a minute here?"
Kirk rubbed his lips together, stressed as he exchanged a look with Spock- a look with a message: I know, I know- don't say it, just don't.
The captain lowered his voice but I could still hear him say:
"Kobayashi Maru, alright? Litige and the admiral are breathing down my neck…" The captain turned around, his eyes shadowed with weight. Spock followed-
-he might as well have left a calm trail of softly fallen snow.
He was nearly impossible to read.
He was a blank slate like I had never encountered before- though I could sense that same, tranquil tide circling around him.
The automatic doors closed behind Kirk and Spock.
"You went through a lot yesterday, I understand," McCoy looked at me with sympathy, leaning a hand on the foot of the bed. "But there are some matters here that are too- political. This is deep Federation- government territory and we can't really take the time to go at the pace you need...The captain's a good guy, Miss Averly. I'd put my life in that man's hands."
I couldn't get myself to look up from the sheets.
The question I didn't want to ask brandished around me, intruding my resolve.
So I gave in.
"...What year-What day-?" I managed to try but I didn't have the energy. I put my head in my hands.
McCoy came to my side and put a comforting hand on my back.
"It's 2263.20-"
"I have no idea what that means!" I cried.
"-It's not Gregorian," He explained. "The calendar system has changed since you were last awake..." the doctor hesitated, typing something into the tablet he was holding. "The year is 2263."
2263.
2263.
I bit down on the sob swelling in my chest. I felt compassion throbbing from McCoy.
He was a good man.
"...Miss Averly," He continued delicately. "...why were you frozen?"
I looked at McCoy, feeling the terrible prickles of nudity- that sensation of complete bristling followed as my mind reached out to cover my vulnerability.
The sob rose like flooding water and clutched my throat, my pride seemed to wrestle and growl inside me.
"I didn't want this." I managed, gripping the soft blanket in my hands. "Someone stole my life! Propelled me into this-."
I couldn't go any further.
I stared straight ahead, focusing on a strange facet on the opposite wall.
The tears warming my eyes were oddly comforting.
"You were placed into stasis against your will?" McCoy asked, staring at me in disbelief.
"Yes."
"Who did this to you?"
Flashes of metal and hard stares.
Test tubes and syringes-
-pain-
-a screen with static-
-but I could still see him, begging me- ordering them-
Black.
"I don't know," I finally responded. "I don't remember."
"It was 2006.268-," McCoy stopped, translating for me: "-September or- March of anywhere between 2006-2012...By your century's system today's date would be-."
"No- no, please, I don't want to- I can't handle that right now."
"Alright, that's fine, that's fine. You woke up yesterday, it's in the afternoon now. Just keep taking deep breaths…" The doctor took the wand instrument and waved it along the back of my head to my temples. "...your heart rate is very high, I'm going to give you something for it…Have you always had such high levels of anxiety?"
"Kind of, I- I tended more towards depression, but there is a lot of- anxiety and mental illness in my family..."
"Look, Miss Averly-."
"Wrenne," I corrected.
"Wrenne," McCoy nodded. "I'm going to be forward with you-."
The automatic doors opened and Litige stepped in with a great amount of purpose, followed by the captain and Spock.
Litige-
anger, anger, anger
fear
hatred
grief
Kirk-
irritation
extreme irritation, directed at Litige.
Overstepping her station.
I'm the captain of this ship, dammit.
Spock-
nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
I was trying to figure him out- penetrate whatever shield or mask he must be using- when he looked at me and I realized I had been staring at him.
I quickly looked back down at the sheets before deciding I didn't need to be embarrassed- I needed to focus on surviving- planning how to escape if these people turned out to be maniacs like the-
-the who?
The people with- the syringes and the hard stares from- before-?
"Jim, Miss Averly is in a very compromised mental condition, if we could-," McCoy started, but the captain interrupted him before Litige could- I felt her over-eagerness, while Captain Kirk was trying to defuse some type of unstable situation that must be going on outside of this hospital place.
"I'm sorry, Bones, but the Admiral has contacted me. We need to cuff her again, start an official report and interrogation…"
I took a sharp breath as the panic shifted in- apparently it was a rather loud, sharp breath as suddenly everyone was looking at me.
"Don't worry, Miss Averly, we have very stable procedures," Spock spoke.
I was surprised how easily I answered him.
"What kind of procedures? What kind of organization is this?"
"An interplanetary federal republic known as the United Federation of Planets," He replied without changing his calm expression.
"And you people- you're- soldiers…?"
"No, we are officers of this starship, Enterprise."
"A military ship," I looked at him suspiciously, feeling my body tense.
"Our mission is purely exploratory-," Spock talked like he was reciting from a dictionary.
"Admiral Cromidian," Litige spoke up, her chest seeming to puff with importance. "-has directed that any conversing with Subject 73 must be kept on the official record and can't defer from the cleared-."
"Lieutenant, you forget yourself."
A spark!
It was just a moment- a split moment- but I felt it, I saw it in Spock's eye when he interjected- a spark of anger!
A meteor shower
upon a field of steel snow.
"You've had plenty of rest now, Helen, if you don't start acting like a Lieutenant-"
"-instead of a tantruming child-" McCoy added with agitation.
"-then I will have to penalize you," Kirk finished, his authority radiating in a steady manner.
"With respect, Captain," Lieutenant Litige insisted. "the admiral appointed me to direct this initiative. When you are ready, we will conduct the interrogation in Conference A-7."
Forceful attempt at intimidation.
There was that spark in Spock again, but even more brief than before.
"Miss Averly?" Kirk turned to me.
Before I could say anything-
"We don't need Subject 73's consent."
"I am not a 'subject!'"
Somehow my anger came up and out of my mouth.
Litige first looked at me in shock, then fiery anger and hatred.
History was speaking for me.
I didn't do anything- I was forced out of history- life, out of my life-!
"I think it is a reasonable, diplomatic gesture to refer to Miss Averly by her name," Spock tilted his head slightly.
He- and Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy- were unbending in Litige's attempt of intimidation.
"I agree," Kirk nodded then, to me, "What do you prefer?"
"Wrenne," I answered, then added: "...please."
I noticed Litige clench her jaw.
"Conference room 7-A. Don't transfer- Wrenne- without restraints and security detail."
With that, the lieutenant left.
"Is she in a healthy enough condition for interrogation?" Spock asked the doctor, who was waving the beeping wand over me again.
McCoy glanced at me, almost apologectically.
"Spike in blood pressure but yes, she's stable," He sighed. "You feel alright for this, Wrenne? Do you want something for your anxiety?"
Fuck no, not with an "interrogation" at hand.
"No." I responded firmly.
The men in red shirts stepped forward with a different set of blue, glowing handcuffs and another set of metal shackles.
What the hell?!
"What are you going to do to me?" I demanded, frightened as I leaned back against the bed, wishing I could vanish into the pillows.
Spock came forward and finally changed his disciplined stance, placing a hand on my arm,
"A Level 76.A Federation interrogation consists of thorough questioning and heavy, painless restraint."
McCoy raised his eyebrows in surprise.
I'd only known the elven man for fifteen minutes, and even I knew this was out of character for him- but at the instant Spock's hand met mine, his calm aura spread to me.
I stared at Spock- trying to decipher him as I felt a soothing wave slowly sweep up my body and through my mind.
I couldn't get through.
Mask, shield, whatever it was- whatever kept this man away from my senses-
I could tell artificial barriers, and this wasn't one of those...
It was natural.
The others didn't seem to notice anything odd except Spock's gesture.
Weird, Kirk shrugged at McCoy, but it's working.
I could understand their non-verbal communication just as easily as I read emotion.
The captain ordered the security officers to give the handcuffs to Spock, who carefully secured them around my wrists and up my forearms.
The metal- or whatever material the shackles were made of- it was cool against my skin.
Disturbing.
But I found Spock's discipline and professionalism reassuring though.
I was thinking more clearly, his touch was like magic-
Like nothing I had ever encountered before, not even from Augments.
"Are you human?" I asked him, looking up as he finished my shackles.
Spock looked at me briefly- he was trying to read me too-
"No, I am Vulcan."
"I thought you were an elf," I thought aloud, feeling my cheeks grow red as I heard what I said.
McCoy snorted into rather enthusiastic laughter-directed at Spock.
"-I- mean a Tolkien thing, like Lord of the Rings-"
Not helping.
"-not the- little cookie elves- the- cool ones from...Tolkien..."
NOT helping.
"-um- sorry, I- uh- didn't mean disrespect, I-," I bit my lips tightly together, feeling myself arch and push against the calming spirit that had washed over me.
McCoy had laughed himself into a brief coughing fit. I noticed even the captain was trying to hide a smirk behind his hand.
Spock had merely raised an eyebrow at me.
"I am, what you would call a 'humanoid', from the planet Vulcan. I am...not an elf."
There it was again-
A sparkle, a glint in his glance-
Amused!
Somewhere in him, he was amused.
Tabula rasa*. Blank slate- or pre-written?
Spock trailed his hand down to mine and his touch again spread that tranquil feeling to me.
They told me to change and everyone left.
I was given clothes- a uniform like theirs with the same insignia, but black, austere, and sober looking. Two female security officers stared straight ahead at the opposite wall as I changed.
Spock, McCoy, and almost one dozen red shirted men escorted me to a type of elevator that glided too smoothly- I couldn't even feel us moving.
"...How do you do that?" I finally asked Spock, referring to the effect of his touch.
"...Vulcans can have certain telepathic abilities and sensitivities," He didn't even look my way, rather kept his disciplined stance: hands grasped behind his back, standing perfectly straight and staring ahead.
Still speaking somewhat like he was reciting from a dictionary or a teleprompter.
The elevator doors opened automatically, and Litige was waiting there in a light gray hallway.
Hate hate hate hate.
Why? Why was her reading so furious and disturbing? So concentrated and directed at me?
Silently she joined the group, the captain stepping to the front.
They spoke in soft, hurried, and agitated voices.
Kirk was beginning to really dislike Litige and from what I had witnessed, I could not blame him.
McCoy was irritated by her presence too, and I could sense his own anxiety rising.
Spock was unreadable again- no sparks or glints.
I felt myself at a much lower level of nervousness than I expected- I suppose that is thanks to the elven- Vulcan magic...but then again, whenever I was too upset, I tended to shift into an "Observer" mode; the panic was too intense, the possible danger too great, so I would cut emotions and focus on the details around me.
I had only needed to do "Observer" mode twice before now.
The interrogation room had a long table with purple chairs. A security officer pressed a button and looked like he was typing something onto the table's surface- in the middle of the table rose something else I couldn't recognize- they ended up attaching my cuffs and shackles to it so my arms were outstretched flat onto the table.
I could only move my fingers but it wasn't painful.
McCoy and Spock sat down, Lieutenant Litige remained standing with the dozen or so security men.
The silence was incredibly uncomfortable. The doctor's irritation had risen to a growing temper.
Spock- tabula rasa.
Most of the officers in red shirts were amazed or frightened.
May not be strong enough-
Look at her, I can't believe-
"What am I being charged with?" I demanded, my voice coming out much weaker than I intended.
"You're not-," McCoy began, glancing angrily at Litige when she interrupted him:
"No speaking to Subject 73 until Captain Kirk is here and we begin an official record."
Subject.
I closed my eyes tightly, the word triggering a horrible flash of shivers through my insides.
"We're all subjects here, Averly." He had looked at me sadly and so quizzically- almost like it had rarely occurred to him that it could be otherwise.
"Humans aren't subjects- you must have some sort of name other than a number! What was that I heard the other man call you?"
He hesitated.
"Khan."
Kirk entered the room, sitting across from me at the table with Spock on his right and McCoy on his left. Litige was near the head of the table.
"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise NCC-1701. Stardate 2263.208, time: 1433. Four days ago we encountered an un-named, damaged vessel where we found a woman in cryogenic stasis- we have estimated she has been frozen for over 200 years. See Captain's Log stardate 2263.204 for more details."
He sighed and leaned back in his chair, continuing,
"Under Admiral George Cromidian's orders, during this report we will be referring to 'John Harrison' as 'Subject 0' so to leave the interrogation uncompromised. Here with me…"
Each person answered for themselves:
"Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy."
"Science Commander S'chn T'gai Spock."
Sh-tiggy- sk-tigay- what?
"Lieutenant Helen Tholaz zh Litige*."
Tholaz?
"Standing by are nine security officers, all of the rank lieutenant commander or higher, also as ordered by Admiral Cromidian. The woman we found aboard the damaged vessel on 2263.204, known as 'Subject 73' is under arrest by the United Federation of Planets and we are interrogating her by the Federation's orders and authority, following Charter 345…" Kirk paused, drumming his fingers on the table. Eventually he looked to Spock, who finished for him:
"Charter 345-98H, section 26, Captain."
"Thank you, Mr. Spock, can't remember those damn numbers sometimes. For diplomacy and by her request, we will be referring to Subject 73 by her name- would you give your name for the record, please?"
I looked around nervously, suddenly remembering I was a part of this scene and not an observer.
"Cerridwen Wrenne Averly," I stuttered. Damn if I couldn't keep from stuttering when I was flustered with any kind of emotion.
"Thank you...Cowa-Kerr-Kowiadwen."
"K-eh-r-id-wehn," I accidentally corrected, feeling my cheeks blush.
No one called me by my first name, I didn't like that kind of intimacy with strangers or acquaintances let alone my captors.
"She requested we refer to her by her middle name, Wrenne," Spock specified.
I glanced at him in surprise and appreciation.
"That's right- thanks, Spock, I forgot," Kirk rubbed a hand over his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days.
"Admiral Cromidian placed me in charge of this particular initiative under the captain's supervision," Litige stated. "We are specifically interrogating Averly for any association she may have with Subject 0- any subjects of the BB Hold, and the conditions under which she was placed in stasis."
I never really expected her to call me the right name anyway.
"Averly, what is your birth date?" She asked without looking at me.
My mind was still so slow and hazy.
"April 7th, 1988."
"What is the last date you can recall?"
Nothing came.
Nothing.
My ears started ringing, my limbs tingling with such anxiety.
I probed a little deeper into my memory, just trying to remember the last season I remembered-
Pain.
-the year-
Intense pain.
"Captain, I want to remind you the mentally compromised state-," McCoy began when I managed to blurt out-
"...winter," it felt like a spurt of blood coming out of a wound. "The end of- winter. We- 2006 had ended- it was 2007?"
"I want to remind the captain of Wrenne's mentally compromised state," the doctor stated more forcefully.
"Doctor, your own psychiatric report listed her as stable-." Litige began.
"Dammit, she's not crazy-! The girl woke up after decades of stasis four days ago, so yes, she is emotionally i.e. mentally compromised!"
"Bones…" The captain gave McCoy a warning glance. "...I think Dr. McCoy is right, we need to keep medical updates on Wrenne, Lieutenant, she did suffer cardiac arrest a few days ago."
"What?!" I felt all the color drain from my face.
"Averly, while under arrest and during your interrogation you will only speak when you are spoken to," Litige glared at me.
"Captain," Spock had folded his fingers carefully on the tabletop. "I propose that I relay the questions to Miss Averly as Lieutenant Litige is emotionally involved due to her personal history and so is the doctor, since Miss Averly is his patient."
"Agreed. Go get whatever medical supplies you think are necessary, Bones- Dr. McCoy," Kirk corrected himself. "Mr. Spock will continue the interrogation."
McCoy left the room.
Anger, agitation, concern
"I have read the petitions for Wrenne's interrogation and have an understanding of the questions that need to be addressed," Spock explained before asking,
"Are you a genetically engineered human?"
I instantly stiffened.
Despite Spock's usual calming affect on me, when he began questioning me- I remembered with a shock that I was basically on trial.
That these people had nearly let me die.
"...cardiac arrest..."?
I didn't know who they were. This Federation could be a dictatorship for all I knew. I had no idea who had won the war, after all- history and present were a blank.
I might as well be blind.
I needed to defend myself.
"No," I replied.
"Were you raised in a medical or scientific facility?"
"No!"
"Are you familiar with Augmented human beings, commonly referred to as 'Augments?'"
"Of course," I grimaced- that question was painful down to my roots. I began to wonder if my "interrogation" was being video recorded or just vocally recorded- or a lie-detector? If they had them in then, they'd have them now...
"Do you identify yourself as an 'Augment?'"
"No."
"Do you possess any new or enhanced abilities that natural humans do not?"
"No."
A light behind me flared red, giving a whooping sound.
"You failed to answer the question truthfully. Do you have any abilities that natural humans do not have?" Spock repeated.
"...Yes."
"What are those abilities?"
McCoy returned with a small satchel at his side.
"I am-," I felt my heart tighten, beat so much faster. Nudity was sweeping over me. "I have- high levels of empathic and psychic sensitivities. And my um- my IQ- and basic brain function is much higher than the...average...human…"
So naked, so exposed.
It was only intensifying with each moment and no amount of clothing or hiding could cover me. I was completely overwhelmed and couldn't sense anything else. Like a flooding stench or blaring alarm.
"Can you read thoughts?" Spock continued, unphased though Litige was now sitting up straight in her chair, leaning over the table with intense eyes looking at me.
The captain regarded me with suspicion, the doctor with some type of fear stemming from a memory of his that I couldn't reach.
"No."
Again, the brief red light and the whoop sound.
"You have failed to answer the question truthfully. Can you read the thoughts of others?" He repeated.
"Kind of- I- I don't hear them or something, I can't sense or read them automatically like- um- like I can with- emotions, but if I concentrate, I can brush...experience...certain powerful thoughts or memories," I was staring at the gentle blue glow of my first set of restraints.
"Do you have intense physical strength that is unnatural for humans?"
"No."
"Did you know a man named Khan Noonien Singh?"
I felt my eyes widen, my breaths coming more quickly.
"Yes."
Damn tears stinging my eyes- but they were small, few, and light ones-
"Wrenne, try to breathe as evenly as possible," McCoy advised, gently but professionally. "I'm going to take her vitals."
He had put a wall up- I could still read him, but I could feel the wall- he was afraid, angry, and suspicious.
But still gentle to me.
He had gotten out of his seat with the beeping wand in hand, carefully gesturing it up and down my body.
"Wrenne's heart rate and blood pressure are far too high. I'm giving an injection chlorothiafurozide, 250mg," He took the ear-thermometer thing and gently pressed it against my neck.
"How do you know Khan Noonien Singh?"
I paused, trying to think quickly- I had to defend myself-
"He took me prisoner when I illegally crossed the Hayagrivan border," I replied.
Spock finally broke his usual facade, interest lighting in his gaze- but it was more complex than that- I couldn't read it, I couldn't reach it-
Fascinating.
"Hayagrivan border? Where was that located?" He asked.
There- that horrible word-
"Was."
"Hayagriva is- was," I corrected myself. "a country that politically separated itself from India due to extreme- differences. When the U.N.- United- um- Nations and other authorities found the Hayagrivan government's eugenic projects inhumane, attempts were made to- stop them... So Hayagriva closed its borders, not letting anyone in or out. It was The 2nd Iron Curtain."
Frustration burned in my chest- I could remember this but not the last moments I was awake in the right world- my world?
"And Singh took you prisoner when you were behind the border?" The lieutenant asked.
She had softened considerably which made her easier to read.
Pain.
Throbbing loss and pain- she seemed to associate it with me?
"Why did you illegally cross the border?" Litige asked.
"I was an...activist...against eugenics-," I closed my eyes to concentrate.
Orange tinted fields.
Sudden shock of dark, cold water.
Desperate to catch a breath.
Shine- glare of painful light-
Tall man in black
Heavy gun-
Breath, breath!
Water in my lungs-
Then a strong pull, pulling me back to the dock.
I could breathe.
Suddenly I realized I was shaking, trembling.
Small black dots zoomed around my vision.
"-trying to...help someone- someone out of Hayagriva-."
"Were you-." Spock started, but again that interjector, Litige, interrupted in a loud, demanding voice: "Were you ever allies with Khan Noonien Singh!"
Light-headed.
My chest hurt.
"Alright, that's it, Jim-," McCoy slammed a hand onto the table. "-Captain, I petition for a continuance right now- stop the record, the report- her blood pressure is 178 over 107, I'm taking her back to Sick Bay immediately- release these damn cuffs from the table before I have to restart her whole damn system!"
"Yes," I answered Litige's question, my head so foggy- everything detached- tears down my cheeks- my beloved, gone- "Khan is my husband."
I felt another injection flick gently into my skin.
A security officer had been working to detach my restraints from the table when he stopped dead.
Then I noticed- despite my faint state- that the whole room had tightened like a taut rubber band.
"Singh is her husband!" Litige nearly shouted as if she had caught me red-handed.
Hate, hate, hate, hate-
So much stronger than before-
A rage-
"I'm- I'm taking her to Sick Bay," McCoy avoided looking at me, his tone professional. "… she isn't having a heart attack on my watch…"
"What- why is that so horrible?" I cried, warm drops rolling down my cheeks. "What did I miss? What- What did he do-?"
"Miss Averly, I want you to take deep breaths now," the doctor commanded, helping me onto a hovering stretcher. "in through the nose, out through the mouth. Lie down, keep breathing in," He inhaled deeply to demonstrate. "and out." He exhaled.
"...Bones."
I turned my head, seeing Kirk's face darken with- something-
anger anger anger
-but more than that-
"I'm going to give you a sedative, we need to slow down your heart rate as quickly as possible-"
Another injection.
"-this will may you sleepy-."
"Bones," the captain repeated. "After you've stabilized her…"
I still remember his face was sharp in the moonlight.
His gaze so powerful.
And I was soaking wet, hacking, struggling to breathe.
He had lowered his gun resignedly.
"...Leave." He had said. "Leave or I will kill you."
I gathered myself,
ran, stumbling and bruised- weighed down by my damp clothes-
-But another, even brighter light suddenly beamed down from a hellicopter-
Loud, booming voice-
"Stop. You have illegally entered this region. Surrender yourself now."
Then repeating in Hindi- then repeating in English-
And the order- softer, a person nearby-
"435-7K, take her now."
His face-
sad- for a good, long moment he looked at me- sad-
And he was a bound prince, a warrior king-
And he had let me go.
But after the order, he came upon me easily-
-so quickly-
-looked at me so sadly-
And I was taken prisoner.
Prisoner, just as I was now.
I stirred restless and distressed in the first stages of drugged sleep.
Khan-
My beloved-
You will never be a prisoner again."
He was dead- dead and gone- if not, if he could somehow rise from the grave- my captors would have hell itself on their heels- hell itself for making me a prisoner for the second time.
{Continued in Chapter 3, Weaving Stage VII: Prisoner}