Chapter Twenty-seven

Salen woke with a jerk after a violent nightmare. As he slowly separated fact from fiction something seemed out of place. It took him a moment to realize that he was laying on the floor. Sitting up slowly he looked over at his bed on the other side of the room. After spending so many years on the hard basement floor it had been difficult to adjust to sleeping up on a bed. He decided that it must be the stress of lying to his father about his assignment that had driven him to curl up on the floor once again during the night.

Stiff from laying on the floor Salen stood up and stretched out. Shivering from the cold sweat that beaded his skin he stepped into the bathroom and into the shower. Turning the water to as hot as it would go Salen let the steam fill his lungs as the water ran off his skin. Reluctantly getting out of the shower Salen dried off and hunted down a clean uniform.

Running his hand over the golden Black Diamond Dogs insignia Salen knit his brow at the mixed emotions it gave him. A voice in his mind kept telling him that he was doing something wrong, something dishonest. However, despite the gnawing teeth of guilt from the voice his primary emotion was still that of pride.

"Of course pride itself is something any true Vulcan would suppress."

Growling in frustration at himself Salen gave one last glance around his room to make sure everything was in place before leaving. As Salen made his way to the bridge he was greeted by congratulations on landing both a nickname and a solid strike on Razor in such short order. Not really enjoying the attention Salen just gave every one in his path a tight smile and moved on.

Razor and Beckett were already on the bridge talking to one another with their backs to Salen. On the view screen was a massive Starbase that they were slowly circling. The rest of bridge crew went about their duties. Flash, the second in command, gave Salen a bright smile.

"Hey, Razor," Flash called "better watch your back, your partner's here for round two."

"Ack!" Razor yelped in mock terror. "Down, Dingo!"

"Dingo, eh?" Beckett chuckled. "I like it."

Salen gasped as Razor turned around and revealed the dark butterfly shaped bruise across his face. Seeing Salen's reaction Razor just shrugged and motioned for Salen to come over and join them by the Captain's chair. Salen approached hesitantly and came up to them with his hands held behind his back. Razor suddenly looked down on Salen disapprovingly.

"You see, Colonel?" Razor complained. "This is exactly what I was talking about."

"Go easy on him, Razor."

Razor made a noise of frustration and reached out to take Salen by the upper arms. Alarmed Salen took a step back before he could be touched.

"Hold still for a second." Razor demanded.

"What are you doing?" Salen asked.

Razor didn't answer, he reached around Salen as though he was going to give him a hug. Salen couldn't back away any further without falling off the small dais that the Captain's chair was set on. Razor got a hold of Salen's wrists which were still behind his back. Razor brought Salen's arms forward and guided Salen to cross his arms over his own chest. Razor took a step back and inspected his work.

"Much better." Razor nodded.

"My body posture truly bothers you?"

"Yes. You look like a slave when you do that."

"Razor," Beckett shook his head sadly "let Dingo hold himself however he wants...hmm, that didn't sound right, but you know what I mean."

Salen brought his hands down to his sides and after a moment of indecision returned them to behind his back. Razor threw his own hands up in frustration. Beckett smiled and then turned to talk to the man who had just arrived on the bridge.

"We got him." The new comer announced.

"Good." Beckett nodded. "Any complications in the transfer?"

"None, Sir."

"Perfect, alright Flash, get us out of here and turn that blasted cloaking device off before we all drop dead of radiation poisoning."

"Aye, Sir."

"We are cloaked?" Salen asked.

"Yup."

"Why? This is a Starfleet Starbase."

"Yes it is, which means there are at least six sharp eyed Starfleet Captains that would take notice of our shiny new toy and want one of their own."

"We wouldn't exactly be 'black ops' if everyone in Starfleet knew about us." Razor added.

"We even had the Enterprise chase us once, thinking that we were Romulans."

"That sucked." Razor lamented. "I seriously thought we were going to die."

"Captain Kirk is not someone you want to tangle with," Beckett agreed "even in a craft this advanced."

"Particularly when you can't fire back." Razor smiled.

"I was seconds away from calling Starfleet to get him off our backs. Which would have been beyond embarrassing. If it wasn't for that nebula field he would have found us even with the cloaking device on."

"He would have made a damn fine Dog." Razor said wistfully.

"Why was he not chosen to be one?" Salen asked.

"He became too famous, too fast. Too many people would have wondered what happened to him if he suddenly disappeared into black ops. By the time we were ready to make the offer he was already suddenly Captain of the Enterprise." Beckett explained. "We thought about asking him if he wanted to fake his death to work with us, but in the end I knew that he'd never give up his post on the Enterprise. Would have been nice though, might have been able to get Spock too."

"Bah," Razor huffed "we don't need him, we've got a Vulcan of our own now."

"So you don't want Dingo looking like a slave, but you don't mind treating him like one?" Beckett raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that things are fine the way they are."

"Very true, and speaking of Dingo, it's showtime. Let's go down and meet West."

"West?" Salen asked.

"The drug running scum I was telling you about last night."

Salen felt a knot suddenly twist itself into his stomach. He was not looking forward to another mind meld with a criminal. He had to remind himself that he'd known that this was part of the assignment from the beginning. Recalling the feeling he'd had when Amelia had been reunited with her father Salen found the courage to follow Beckett and Razor down to the infirmary where they were keeping their prisoner.

Just as before the man was being kept still with the unnatural paralysis. Razor and Beckett walked right up to the metal table that held West and crossed their arms over their chest as they looked down on him. With a look of disgust on his face Razor reached out to touch West. Beckett grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"No," Beckett shook his head "if you hurt him Dingo has feel it too."

"Right, I forgot."

"Okay, Dingo, get whatever you can from him."

"You do not wish to give him a chance to talk?" Salen asked.

"He'll just lie to us. Just go in and take anything that looks useful."

"That is not exactly how it works."

Beckett looked over his shoulder and noticed that Salen was still standing back. The Colonel's brow knitted in concern for a moment. He walked up to Salen and gave him a sad smile.

"Ding...Salen," Beckett used Salen's given name softly "if you're not ready for this..."

"I can do it." Salen said quickly.

"We'll be right here to pull you away if it looks like things aren't going well." Razor said.

"I am unsure if it is safe to pull a Vulcan away from a mind meld forcefully." Salen said.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Razor asked.

"I could lose a piece of my soul."

"Woah, I don't like the sound of that." Razor said sincerely. "Colonel, perhaps we should just do this the old fashion way, and let Toby work his magic on West."

"No," Salen stepped up to the table "I will be fine."

Razor still looked doubtful, but he stepped back and gave Salen some space. Even motionless the man on the table looked dangerous. West was sickly thin, but still looked to have a good deal of wiry muscle on his long bones. His face was sallow with sharp features. Salen took a deep breath and slowly placed his fingertips on West's face. Salen instantly began to struggle for breath as West's memories and violent nature seeped into his mind.

"I don't like this, Colonel." Razor said quietly to Beckett.

"Don't worry, Dingo will find out more in twenty seconds than any of us could get out of West in twenty years."

"At what cost?"

"Salen has done this before, everything will be fine."

With a quiet sigh Razor nodded. With his eyes closed Salen ground his teeth together and growled in anger and frustration as West's emotions flooded his senses. Razor took a step forward but Beckett put his arm out to keep him from going any further. As Salen looked deeper into West's mind he cried out in pain as West began to fight against him.

"Fuck you, you goddam Vulcan freak!" Salen shouted angrily. "Get off me or I will rip your intestines out myself!"

When Salen pressed his free hand against his stomach and began to dig his fingers into his own flesh Beckett's breath hissed across his teeth as he gasped in horror. As the scene became increasingly chaotic and violent Razor looked to Beckett and silently implored him for permission to physically separate the pair.

"No." Beckett shook his head and then turned his attention to Salen. "Salen, Salen listen to me, come back. Forget this scum sucker, just release him, that's an order."

Unresponsive to Beckett's voice Salen dug his fingernails into West's face until there were rivulets of red blood dripping down onto the cold metal table. Although he was unable to move it was clear that West was having a seizure and that Salen was probably next.

"Razor, pull them apart."

"Aye, Sir."

Razor put his hand on Salen's shoulder and jerked him away from West. Snapping his eyes open Salen glared spitefully at Razor for a split second before launching himself at him in a vicious attack. Taken off guard Razor shouted in alarm as Salen wrapped his hands around his throat. Razor was able to grab Salen's wrists, but there was little he could do to get the crazed Vulcan to calm down. When Salen went to snake one hand up to Razor's temple the human feared that he was next on Salen's mind meld list.

Battling to keep Salen under control Razor found himself losing the fight. Razor tried to to back away, but Salen kept on him until he backed into the wall. With a vacant look in his eyes Salen grabbed Razor's head with both hands. Razor suddenly started having flashes of memories he knew didn't belong to him as a strange siren voice invaded his mind inviting him to become one with the foreign thoughts.

"Get him off me!" Razor roared.

"Salen, enough!" Beckett barked without effect. "Shit..."

Beckett brought out his phaser and gave Salen one last chance to come to his senses. When that failed Beckett wasted no further time and shot Salen in the back. Arching his back from the stunning blast from the phaser Salen cried out and fell back unconscious. Razor lashed out before Salen fell to the floor and caught him.

"What the fuck was that?" Razor demanded.

"I have no idea, that wasn't anything like the last time." Beckett admitted and then activated the intercom. "Doc, get in here."

The doctor had been instructed to wait outside the infirmary during the meld, but he must have been standing right at the doors. He instructed Razor to bring Salen over to one of the biobeds and lay him down. Razor laid Salen down just as the Vulcan was regaining consciousness. Salen moaned and resisted being kept down. Insisting on sitting up Salen pressed his hands against his face and groaned once again. The doctor jabbed him with a hypospray and he relaxed somewhat.

"Salen?" Beckett asked in concern.

"I am unharmed." Salen shook his head to clear it and looked up at Razor. "I am sorry for attacking you. Some of West's mind was still with me when you separated us. I asked you not to do that."

"You were about to tear your own guts out." Razor said defensively.

"No." Salen shook his head. "West was trying to control me, and I let him think that he was to get him to drop his guard and let me deeper into his mind."

"I can't believe that Vulcans do this shit on a regular basis," Razor huffed "it goes against just about everything I've ever heard about your kind."

"Mind melding is very similar to sex, if both parties involved are in mutual agreement it can be a beautiful exchange."

"So...you're telling me I just witnessed a mind raping?" Razor curled his lip in disgust.

"Yes." Salen shrugged. "West deserved far worse, he is a disgusting creature. He stole from his own mother, sold his sister into slavery, even he does not know how many have died from over dosing on drugs he sold."

"Speaking of drugs," Beckett interjected "you didn't happen to get any information on his supplier, did you?"

"I did. You will not like what I have learned." Salen said with a yawn. "However, I am painfully tired...may we continue this conversation in a few hours?"

"Of course. However, I want you to sleep here in the infirmary."

Salen nodded as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"You sure you're okay, Dingo?" Razor asked.

"Yes, just tired."

"You managed to keep all of your soul?"

"I believe so."

Too exhausted to stay awake Salen eased himself down onto the biobed. The doctor ran a medical scanner over Salen and assured the others that the Vulcan was healthy. Salen closed his eyes and was quickly asleep. Razor crossed his arms over his chest and looked down on Salen.

"He's fine, Razor." Beckett assured.

"He tried to kill me."

"He said he was sorry."

Razor rolled his eyes and turned his attention to West. Still motionless on the metal table there was a trail of pink foam running from the corners of his lips. Beckett gave the doctor a silent order to check West out. The doctor gave West a once over.

"Well, Doc?" Razor asked.

"Physically he's stable. Mentally...well, not so much. His brain waves are all over the place. If I released him from the nerve block he'd probably start babbling and throwing himself around. I'd be surprised if he ever regained anything that resembles sanity."

"Keep him quiet for now." Beckett ordered.

The doctor nodded and adjusted a few setting on the table before going back to tend to Salen. Razor stepped up to West and stared down at him. Despite the nerve block West's eyes were rolling around under his eyelids. Beckett stepped up to Razor and they shared a few minutes of silence.

"Thoughts, Razor?"

"I'm just thinking that I'd rather be physically tortured than have my mind scrambled like that."

"Same here."

"You want me to kill West?" Razor asked casually.

"No...I'm thinking that I might want to let him go."

"Let him go?"

"Word spreads fast in the underworld. West has a lot of friends, someone would take him in. It might be advantageous if they knew we have a new weapon."

"West would certainly show them what Salen can do."

"It might keep him from having to do it again."

"If you threatened me with a mind meld I'd sing like a canary." Razor admitted.

"Exactly."

Turning away from West Razor wandered back over to where Salen was laying. Unlike West the Vulcan looked like he was sleeping peacefully. He took slow deep breaths, his whole frame looking relaxed. Razor still wasn't sure how he felt about what he'd just witnessed, however, Salen looked no worse for the wear and he knew that without a similar mind meld that Amelia would never have had the chance to grow up.

"Sir?" Razor asked quietly.

"Yes?"

"Would you have chosen Salen if he wasn't a Vulcan?"

"No." Beckett admitted.

"I didn't think so."

"Do you think I made a mistake in enlisting him?"

"No. I just hope he can take it."

"He can. Salen is a survivor...just like you."

"Is that why you made us partners?"

"Partly. Mostly it was because I felt you two would work well together. Salen needs someone strong who can keep watch over him, you need someone smart to keep you out of trouble."

Still looking troubled Razor stared down at Salen. He bought his attention to the new thoughts and memories that were still in his mind. He discovered that this wasn't the first time that Salen had driven someone to insanity with his touch. There was something in Salen's heart that even Salen feared, a wild animal that was barely tame waiting to be released to hunt and kill.

"Razor?"

"You know I would lay down my life to protect his in the line of duty..."

"I do."

"However, if he tries to take my mind again...I'll kill him."