The Interrogation

Posted on Fri Apr 6th, 2018 @ 10:11pm by Dixoho Saa (*)

Mission: Mission 6 - Azzia
Location: The Lair
Timeline: MD 08 / 1953 hours (local)
3330 words - 6.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Dixoho looked around confused as she regained consciousness and shivered in her underwear. What was going on? Where was Micheal? It didn't take her long to start wondering just how long she was in there suspended unable to breathe properly. It all changed very quickly as a voice spoke to her and her body suddenly started to roar in pain. "Stop... stop..." She begged before she started to moan in pain before a sound came out of her mouth that she didn't recognise at all. She was screaming in a pain that she had never experienced before. It came in waves, timed exactly with the now-rapid beating of her heart.

In the preceding hour, Dixoho had been surrounded by four times the normal amount of air for the space she was in. Her body had adapted to that. The air taken in through her lungs, also pressurized, had found its way into her bloodstream, and now her entire body was at only at three times the ambient pressure. Various gas bubbles, mainly nitrogen, were dissolved into her bloodstream, and when Không ai bled the air out of the chamber, those bubbles started to expand. Tissues around the bubbles resisted the force, but not well, and almost at once cell walls started first to stretch, and then, in some cases, to rupture.

Outside the holosuite, Không ai listened at that moan that turned into that scream and her heart fluttered. She so wished to be with Dixoho then, to look into her eyes, her real eyes and see the pain there. But that would come in time, she thought as she had caressed the monitor, that would come in time. With a heavy heart, Không ai looked away from the screen and continue to tweak very special surprise for her dear Dixoho.

Hearing the screams, Micheal started to finally come to. At first, he had a difficult time opening his eyes. After a few beats, he finally succeeded. At first, his drug-addled brain couldn't comprehend where he was or what was going on. After a few more moments, the fogginess began to evaporate. That's was when he recognized that he was secured to a large wooden chair, heavy straps on his wrists, chest, thighs and ankles. He saw that he had been stripped down to his boxers, and, to add more injury to his situation, due to the heavy sedatives, he had soiled himself.

Groaning in pain, both of the situations, and the soreness of his neck from his head hanging limply for who knows how long, he carefully lifted his head, eyes closed so he could focus on moving slowly.

"Hello, Micheal," T'omas, who had been sitting off to the side, watching his prey wake up, said in a satisfied voice.

Hearing the voice of the vile Betelgeusian, Micheal's blood suddenly ran cold. Opening his eyes, he turned his eyes toward the direction of the voice. "T'omas," his tried to respond, his voice very dry and scratchy from both the drugs and the fact that he was dehydrated. "What.."

"What is going on?" T'omas completed the question. With a smug smile on his speaking mouth, he continued. "Why, I would think that even a smart humanoid such as yourself could figure that out. I'm here to collect the bounty on your head."

Micheal slowly started to reclaim his wits, he struggled against his bonds but got very little give. He suddenly thought of Dixoho. Perhaps she had escaped. If she had, he was certain that, by now, the entire crew of the Mary Rose was out looking for him, wherever he was.

T'omas smiled to himself. He had no doubt that right now, Micheal was thinking about several different things. The top two would be an escape and the status of his lady friend. Reaching over to the console next to his seat, he said nonchalantly, "Look at the screen in front of you."

Micheal looked ahead, and his heart stopped. On it, he saw the woman he loved, nearly stripped naked, suspended in some kind of null field, screaming in agony. "Stop hurting her!" He pleaded to T'omas. "I'll give you whatever you want!!"

T'omas stood and walked over to stand in front Micheal. Looking down at him with disgust, the large avianoid said, "Oh, I know you will, Micheal. But not yet." That said, he hauled back and slammed his clenched, cybernetic, fist into the left side of Micheal's jaw, cracking it and knocking the Human back out.

After T'omas landed a few more vicious blows to his prey, he exited the holosuite. Glancing over at his partner, he said, "Your turn." Không ai smiled at her employer as she activated the next part of the program.

Dix’s pain quickly subsided as she felt her ears pop. She just hung there in the dark, a dull ache rippling throughout her body. Just as she was catching her breath a searing light erupted around her along with an ear-piercing wail. Invisible hands straightened her body out as the whine and glow of a transporter surrounded her. She materialized upright in a metal cylinder of some kind. She could feel the weight of an AG field holding her feet to the deck and the thrum of a warp engine somewhere beyond the bulkheads. Looking through a thick glass porthole inches in front of her face, she could make out what looked like some sort of cargo hold. The doors to the hold parted allowing a Cardassian entrance into the space. He stopped in front of her to set up a card table and a fold-out chair Once that was done he turned to her.

"Ah good, they’ve transported you over already,” he said, "You can see me alright?" he asked sounding almost concern as his voice coming through an intercom, "My name is, well that is you can call me Không, Không ai." He said smiling at a joke that was his own.

As the Cardassian sat down, he looked into Dix’s slightly unfocused eyes. At the air pressure, she was under, the nitrogen gas that constituted the majority of the air had a narcotic effect, not unlike that of alcohol or barbiturates. As afraid as Dixoho seemed to be, Không ai knew she was also experiencing a whiplash feeling of euphoria, along which came impaired judgment. It was just one more bonus effect from the interrogation technique that Không ai had selected mainly for the magnitude of the injury she could inflict.

"Now Ms Saa, I’m sure you have questions, You may ask them now, and I will answer best I can." The Cardassian said in a clipped precise manner, “Please be aware that this is the only time you are allowed to ask anything. After this, I will be asking you the questions.” Pointing his finger at her like a father playfully scolding a naughty child the said, “No don’t be rude, I cannot abide rude guests.”

Dixoho winced and tried to take in a deep breath but it was impossible she felt like she was constantly just taking small levelled breaths just to keep her head clear and not fall into the drunkenness she was feeling. "What is going on?" She demanded biting her tongue against being rude it wouldn't help. "And where is Micheal?"

"Ah, two excellent, though somewhat obvious questions." Không ai observed, acting like a teacher proud of a particularly bright student, "The first is vague, and might take a while to answer, the second rather specific, so I shall that one first."

"Your 'Micheal' is near at hand, though when I saw him last, he seemed somewhat lacking in his enthusiasm for his current surroundings," Không ai said in a disappointed voice, "I suppose he was expecting to be enjoying himself, reaping the benefits of all his hard work."

"As for 'what is going on' use your eyes, Ms Saa, the sounds you hear, the drag of gravity at your feet." the Cardassian said gesturing around him, "As a boomer, you can tell that the AG field is Klingon norm as is the dreary architecture of the hold. And if listen with your ears, and feel the vibrations, why I bet you could not only tell me what warp factor we're travelling at but also the type of powerplant this ship is using."

"Now what does everything up to this point imply? That someone has gone to great effort and expense to kidnap you and bring you to me, your torturer. And why be tortured? For information of course." Không ai clapped his hands together, "Now that should be more than an adequate answer for 'what's going on.' "

"Hmmm maybe that was too much information," The Cardassian observed crossing his arms, "The rest of my answers will have to be shorter to compensate, I suppose. Anyway, I will give you three more question before we start, OK?"

Không ai could see how hard Dixoho was concentrating, trying to make sense of what he had just implied. She was a smart girl, but in her present state, Không ai hoped all the information would serve to confuse her, feeding Dix's doubts to become the building blocks for a sense of hopelessness.

Dixoho let out a hoot of laughter after staying silent for a long while giving the impression that she was thick or at the very least to drugged. "I have no information." She wheezed releasing this wasn't about Micheal, this was her bounty that was obviously biting them in the ass. She should have never left the ship just she normally did.

Không ai made sure Dix's face was at the window when the pressure rushed out of the cylinder. Again the pain returned in waves. Nitrogen bubbles collected in her joints and Dix had the instinctive reaction of decompression sickness which was to try and curl up in a ball. But Dixoho couldn’t fold up inside the chamber, much as she tried to. bubbles also formed in her central nervous system, compressing its gossamer fibres, and the pain was multifaceted now, crushing aches in the joints and extremities, and searing, fiery threads throughout her body. Nerve spasms started as the tiny electrical fibres rebelled against what was happening to them, and her body jerked randomly as though being stung with electric shocks. The neurological involvement was a little disquieting early on. Không ai would need to be careful. Still, she enjoyed hearing the screams for several minutes as Dix slammed her head on the edge of the porthole trying as she tried to curl herself up.

That was enough for now. Không ai restored the pressure, watching the spasms slow down. He said “Laughing at someone who is simply answering your question is very rude." But that was marvellous, she thought. "And I am truly sorry if you have no information, because if you can not answer any of my questions to my satisfaction then you may never be able to walk out of here." God, Không ai thought, she needed a cigarette, "I will leave you now to let you consider this, but I will leave you with some entertainment in the meantime." The Cardassian then touch a controller as he exited the cargo bay image of Micheal strapped to a chair appeared in front of the cylinder.

The image was of an unconscious, severely beaten Micheal. Like Dixoho, he had been stripped down to his underwear. He was secured by several straps to the large wooden chair. His head hung down to his left side and moved slightly whenever he took in a ragged breath. Both of his eyes were black and heavily swollen. His nose, clearly broken, was bent at an odd angle to his left. His lips were equally as swollen as his eyes and split. His lower jaw looked as if it had been broken, and he had blood dripping out of just about every opening on his head.

Dixoho looked the man that she was learning more and more to adore each day, as he sat there in such a sorry state. A state he didn't deserve no matter how they had started their relationship. She screamed his name, trying to free herself, but it was impossible. She needed to get out of there to help him somehow.

Hearing Dixoho scream his name in such anguish, Micheal started to come to again. As he awoke, his body and head screamed in the pain he had received from T'omas's earlier beating. "Di..." he whispered through the agony. He couldn't open his eyes, but he could still clearly hear the woman he loved. "Di..!" His voice grew stronger, though, he couldn't move his jaw due it being broken. Waves of pain continued to wash over him as his body protested the movements and speaking.

And then the feed to Dix's suite cutout, leaving Micheal alone and impotent to witness his lover's interrogation. Several seconds later the Cardassian returned to Dix's chamber, "Excellent bit of information Ms Saa." Không ai said as he entered, "You see, you do have useful information. I now know that Micheal Robertson's life is, at least in some small way, important to you." Không ai cocked his head and smiled,"Your initial reaction will b to lash out at me. But know this, that little bit of information you provided me just save his life. Let us pray you can supply me with more gems like those."

"For now we need to depart the realm of social interaction an enter the arena of astrometrics," Không ai explained as he sat down, 'Please keep in mind any answers I do not lie will now also have consequences for you friend down the hall."

Dixoho frowned and wiggled a little more as a cough bubbled up inside of her already and she tasted an iron taste in her mouth. "Astrometric hmm?" She demanded closing her eyes willing herself to be strong. She had to survive this and make what she stole worth it.

Next door, in the holosuite that held Micheal, the Rosie's armoury chief continued to return to lucidity. Moving his head carefully, to keep the protestations from his broken jaw to a minimum, the Texan looked around at his surroundings. From the structural setup, he would guess that he was in a B'rel class Bird of Prey. What he found surprising was that he was strapped to a chair made of wood not native to Q'onos. If he investigated it closely enough, he would have sworn that the wood was oak, a lumber only native to his home planet, Earth. Whether that meant anything or not did not matter to him at this moment. Right now, all he was concerned with was an escape.

Discreetly, he strained against each of his bonds, looking for any weaknesses. Not finding any, he did all he could do at the moment, conserve his energies and wait for his moment. Resting the uncomfortable chair, his eyes returned to the drama unfolding within the projection.

"Yes, Astrometrics, navigation, tricks of the piloting trade, as they relate to this." Không ai explain as a three dimensional map of the Veil Expanse, an area of over 3000 cubic parsecs of space most considered even more hazardous than the infamous 'Badlands' "Along with the mundane information one can glean from a star chart, my employers are interested to learn how you, an untrained pilot-navigator was able to traverse such a hostile area of space."

And so the interrogation began, some answers were reasonable and acceptable. However, there were exceptions, those resulted in Dix's screams echoing throughout the chamber. The latest excursion taking her to a mere one and a half bars of pressure. Không ai couldn't help but smile as the trill clawed at her ears when both tympanic membranes ruptured, not a second apart. Looking at Dix through the porthole, it was evident that her eyes and sinuses had been affected, with red starting to color the white of her left eye and her face beginning to swell.

“Now Ms Saa,” she said, after restoring the pressure and eliminating most of the pain, “I’m not sure I believe that one.”

Meanwhile, in the other holosuite, Micheal was starting to recover from some of his beatings. While his face was still on fire due to his broken jaw, the rest of his injuries starting to be tolerable. He began to test his restraints again, trying to find any weaknesses.

Suddenly, the hatch behind the chameloid burst open. T'omas strode in angrily. "Enough of these games!" He snarled aloud as he moved to the control console. "Give me what I want, or you shall watch your beloved Micheal die, right here, in front of you!" He pressed a few controls, and the familiar sounds of a transporter beam were heard. Then, a couple meters directly in front of Dixoho's chamber, Micheal materialized, complete with the chair he was strapped in.

"Di....don't...don't tell them...anything..." Micheal wheezed through his broken jaw.

"Quiet!" T'omas roared, slashing the claws of his good hand wildly across the front of Micheal. While he inflicted some damage to the Texan, he inadvertently, and unknowingly, damaged a few of the straps that were holding his prey in the chair. Spinning back to face Dixoho, T'omas extended the metallic claws that were stored in his cybernetic hand and raked them across the surface of the chamber that Dixoho was being held in. He made several deep gashes in the metal casing. "You will give me the information that I want, or your death, and his, will not be merciful."

Turning around and storming out, T'omas glared at his partner. "Get her out of that device. It's time to do things my way!" He then stormed out of the holosuite.

"Rash and impulsive," Không ai signed shaking her head, "Rash and impulsive." Then the Cardassian pressed a button on his comm and two Klingon warriors."You please bring in the restraining chair, from the other room." he smiled to one, "And you, stay here and make sure to thrash Mr Robert soundly if he somehow gets free."

"My compliments to you Mr.Robertson," Không ai said cheerfully to the still form, "I'm not sure how you convinced my esteemed colleague to reunite you with your true love, but bravo. Please understand, it will take me some time to extract on maiden from her iron coffin. If you somehow disturb me, it will result in her, rather painful death"

Despite the Cardassian's cheerful exterior, the Chameloid within seethed. It had taken him over eighty questions to get a physiological profile so he could determine when his victim was telling the truth and when she was lying. Still, he had been able to uncover some nuggets of information from their talks, THe correct modifications she had done to her ship's navigational array, and positions of the first twelve waypoints to this 'Garden of Eden' he was tasked to find. She was still lying about three of them, and there were supposedly another eighteen to twenty he needed to draw out of her.

"Trying to use a scalpel and T'omas wants to use an axe." Không ai grumbled as he adjusted the pressure and gas mixture so Dixoho could survive outside the chamber. After an hour the Cardassian spoke, "Now Ms Saa I am going to open the chamber. You still have a minor case of decompression sickness. I advise you to curl up into a ball after I open the hatch."

OFF::

Dixoho Saa
Chief Navigator
SS Mary Rose
(PNPC Gregnol)

Micheal Robertson
Chief Armory Officer/Bounty Hunter
SS Mary Rose/Shuttle Alexandria

T'omas el-Altaa
Bounty Hunter
NPC Robertson

Không ai
Bounty Hunter
NPC Kane