Disclaimer and notes are in the prologue.


Ch. 20

Something had changed. Kathryn's body was very attuned to space travel, and she'd awoken almost immediately when the ship had shifted to warp. She didn't feel like she'd been asleep that long, but she couldn't be sure. Despite how hard she'd tried, the days aboard Milo's ship had been exhausting emotionally, and after she'd settled her peace in the bathroom earlier, she'd come out and climbed into bed, spooning against her daughter and falling asleep almost immediately.

Opening her eyes and slowly stretching her legs out, Kathryn gently rolled out of the bed she was sharing with Madelyn. She pulled the covers back up to Maddie's shoulders, marveling again that the kid could sleep through anything. The sleep of the innocent. All of this would be so much easier to endure if it wasn't for her fear for her daughter. At least with Milo she knew what to expect, but now with whoever this Merc was that had bought her, she would have to begin playing a whole new game. New rules, but with the same priorities. Protect Maddie. Find a way to escape. Protect herself.

She didn't really know if she believed the third thing on the list was possible anymore, but she'd already given herself this pep talk once. She'd give them hell for as long as she could. Hearing the door to the parlor slide open, Kathryn grabbed for her robe and steeled herself to begin the game. With one last look at Madelyn, she walked out to the parlor, expecting to finally meet this Merc.

Much to her surprise, she found Milo helping himself to a drink while sprawling across the couch. If the smell was any indication, the drink he now slurped from was not his first since she'd last seen him. "Kathryn...my dear, dear Kathryn. You've made me a very rich man today. Come, sit, have a drink with me."

"I think not," she said, ignoring his patting of the seat next to him, choosing instead to sit across from him. She would not drink with the man, but she did need information.

"I bet if it was coffee, you'd join me for a drink," he slurred. "I understand you have quite the taste for it."

"And how would you know that?" It was hardly a state secret that she enjoyed coffee, but she still felt uncomfortable with the casual way Milo seemed to hold information about her.

"That admiral, of course," Milo said dismissively, waving his hand in the air. "I made him tell me everything he knew about you, no matter how mundane. And what he didn't know…I made him find out."

"What admiral?" Kathryn asked quietly, almost frightened of the answer. Ever since this insanity had started, she'd tried to piece together the hows and whys, but she hadn't been able to get very far. Now, she had a sinking sensation that the entire scheme was more devious than she had ever imagined.

"Oh, you know the one." Milo seemed to be having a hard time concentrating, and Kathryn had to stop herself from reaching over and shaking the information out of him. Then his eyes widened as he remembered. "Brislin. The one that introduced us. You remember him."

Her mind flashed back to the banquet again. The admiral she barely knew throwing an arm around her shoulders. Milo's roving eyes. The admiral's smug grin. Kathryn's blood boiled and her voice was a harsh whisper. "What did he do?"

"Everything." Milo shrugged. "I would never have looked twice at you if it wasn't for him, but he went on and on about you. Telling me how you captivated the hearts and minds of everyone you met. How every man you graced with a smile fell instantly in love with you." He leaned forward. "Mind you, I was fairly sure he was feeding me a line, but I agreed to meet you and decide for myself. He convinced me to come to that banquet so I could observe you there 'in your element'." Milo rolled his eyes. "But I have to admit, the old man was right. I watched that night, and everyone in that room gravitated towards you like you were their sun. I knew then I could make a fortune off you."

Kathryn was reeling. She couldn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it. An admiral had done this to her. And not only that, but someone with that high of a standing in Starfleet not only knew about the slavery ring but also, in some way, condoned it. "Why…why did he do this?"

"Even your vaunted society has its ugly underbelly, Kathryn. And no matter how far up the social ladder one climbs, people will always have their vices. Brislin's vice is gambling, and apparently he isn't very good at it." Milo's voice was thick with disdain. "Seems he played above his pay grade and ended up with some debts that he couldn't afford. Those debts got turned over to me. He has an adopted daughter that's half Risan and half Betazoid; imagine the possibilities."

"You were going to take and sell his daughter?" she asked disgustedly.

"Yes. He had no other means to pay his debts. I don't deal in espionage or weapons, so his assorted contacts at Starfleet were of no use to me. But, of course, he didn't want anything to happen to his daughter." He leaned back, sipping from his drink. "Lucky him, you chose that moment to come streaking across the sky."

"But…how?"

"No idea, really," Milo shrugged. "It took him a few months to arrange everything, but he's been around. Knows all the ins and outs. He knows contacts of a disreputable nature, as evidenced by his many gambling debts." He laughed. "I tell you one thing, though. Those thugs that took you from your house, they were definitely hired muscle. There's no way professionals would've left that big a mess. Not to mention, bruising the merchandise. Amateurs." Milo scoffed and shook his head as though disgusted he had to work with such people. "Even controlling the investigation, Brislin had to do some cover up after that fiasco. That's the whole reason we arranged to have them find your bodies. Throw the investigation off track. Get it closed."

Even through the shock of everything she'd just found out, Kathryn felt a surge of hope. "My people were getting too close, weren't they?"

Now it was Milo's turn to look uncomfortable. "What are you talking about?"

Kathryn smiled. "My crew. My husband. They didn't accept the official story, did they? They started their own investigation."

"So what if they did?" His eyes narrowed. "Doesn't matter now. Your husband is the one that confirmed the rank bar found with the bodies was yours. He thinks you're dead."

"You don't know my husband very well." She leaned forward. "Somehow, I don't think Merc will care for it very much when a dozen Starfleet officers show up at his door, demanding my release."

Milo let out a sharp bark of laughter. It was humorless, and Kathryn didn't like it. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but she knew she'd somehow misspoken, and Milo was going to capitalize on her mistake.

"You understand so little of my world, Kathryn. Your high ideals and virtues will be such a handicap for you." He stood, circling behind the couch towards the bar. "Mercado was nothing more than a front man. A stand-in. He owns the house. Arranges the meetings. But he doesn't buy and he doesn't play." Kathryn smelled the aroma of coffee seconds before he put a cup and saucer in front of her. "You, my dear, were purchased by an elitist. He…chooses to have his merchandise delivered." Milo gestured to himself and the ship.

Kathryn pointedly ignored the coffee in front of her, quite a feat with the potent aroma promising her that it was top-quality stuff, but then, she wouldn't expect any less of Milo, would she? So she was being taken elsewhere. She couldn't help but feel a profound relief at knowing she had a little while longer…a little longer for Chakotay to find them. It didn't mean she wanted to spend the extra time with Milo, though. She let her cold glare settle on him, knowing he could rarely hold up under her direct gaze. "Am I supposed to be impressed with you now? Knowing you are nothing more than a delivery boy?"

Milo let out his breath in an undignified snort of disgust. "You always have to be so difficult, don't you?" The fact that his smile was forming and that he hadn't looked away yet made her unpleasantly apprehensive as he leaned forward in his chair. "So hard, always determined to prove that you're stronger, better than everyone around you."

"In current company, it isn't difficult," she quipped.

"That's the Starfleet in you talking now, Kathryn," he scoffed, taking another long drink from the glass he'd refilled while fetching her coffee. He shook his head. "I really do despise your kind, you know," he informed her, swiping the back of a fat hand across his mouth as he launched into his speech. "Always so full of your noble values and your high morals. So convinced of your own superiority, convinced of your untouchability. Well just look where it's gotten you, Admiral," he taunted. "Look around you. You're on a slave ship, about to be handed over to become a rich man's plaything. That's where all your nobility and fine principles have gotten you. And it's gotten your daughter caught up in it all with you. Well done."

Even with his infuriating comments, her look of disdain never faltered. Milo's complexion flushed darker in annoyance. "You know what? I was feeling slightly guilty about your buyer; after all, there was dear little Maddie to think of. But now I'm glad Nemor didn't take you. Not after the hell you've made my life these past weeks. You deserve to get worse than the Cardy."

"There's nothing worse than being held captive by a Cardassian," she bit back.

"You sound so sure about that, Admiral, but believe me, there are worse evils in this universe." He pushed himself to his feet and circled behind her. His hands came to a rest on her shoulders, and she repressed the urge to rip them off. His voice was almost a whisper in her ear. "And I promise that, very soon, you will experience first hand every single one of those evils."

Kathryn launched herself to her feet, pushing him slightly off balance, but he backed towards the door, hands raised. He chuckled as the doors slid open. "Sleep well, Kathryn…while you can."

Her breathing came hard and fast as she stared at the closed doors, clenching and unclenching her muscles in mute frustration. She knew his words were meant to frighten her, and it bothered her immensely that she felt he was telling the truth.

"Mom?" Madelyn's sleepy, whispered voice startled her, and she looked up to see her daughter standing in the doorway of the bedroom. Her hair fell loose down her back and haphazardly across her face, and Kathryn could see the tail end of the sheet still clutched in her hand.

Kathryn crossed to the doorway and turned her daughter back to the bed. Maddie climbed back in without argument, a true testament to how asleep she still was. Kathryn picked the blanket up from the floor and threw it back on the bed, pulling it up under Maddie's arms. Leaning down, she kissed her daughter's forehead. "Go back to sleep, honey."

Maddie turned on her side as Kathryn took a seat in the chair next to the bed. "What did Mister Milo want?"

"Nothing important," Kathryn answered her quietly, tucking an errant lock of hair behind Maddie's shoulder. "Just try to go back to sleep, okay?"

"Okay," Maddie mumbled sleepily.

Kathryn bit her lip, sucking in an unsteady breath. She had accepted a long time ago that her job entailed unusual risks, but Maddie was innocent. She didn't deserve this. She shouldn't have to wake up in a strange bed to hear her mother arguing with a strange man. She should be home with her toys, asleep in her own bed. Safe.

"Don't worry, Mom," Maddie mumbled, and Kathryn quickly wiped a hand under her eyes before any errant tears could spill down her cheeks. She looked down at her daughter whose eyes were still closed.

"Maddie?" she whispered, wondering if her daughter was actually awake or just talking in her sleep.

"It'll be okay," Maddie whispered back. "Daddy's coming. He promised."