Kingdom of Darkness & Mystery

Posted on Sun Sep 5, 2021 @ 7:42pm by Admiral Alan Markus & Lieutenant AJ Taggart & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD

2,409 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Archangel
Location: Enemy Ship
Timeline: Concurrent with Standing Afar

The room was comfortably furnished, warm, and a light scent of incense in the air. The side of the soft bed dipped slightly as a figure sat down on it and put a hand gently on the young woman's shoulder. "Time to wake up, dear," a soft voice said.

Camille’s eyes opened slowly. At first she seemed to be in pure bliss. The bed was beyond comfortable. In place of her uniform was the softest gown she’d ever worn. The voice, innately familiar but one she did not consciously recognize, roused her in the most pleasant way imaginable.

But then, once consciousness set in, she began to panic. Her upper body jolted up and she pulled her legs close to her. Her eyes darted around the room, but she couldn’t see. Her glasses had been removed too. “Where am I?” she asked. “Who are you?” She began to reach around the side of the bed, where she thought she saw an end table where her glasses might be.

A soft hand took her wrist and held it firmly as she struggled. It opened her hand and put her glasses in it, then let go. "I'm sorry to startle you," the woman said. "We didn't want you to sleep with your glasses on. Are you feeling all right? The transporter was a bit of a rough ride as I understand it."

“I…I don’t really remember it,” Camille admitted as she put on her glasses. “There was a little girl. Gabrielle. Yes, Gabrielle. Then I felt disoriented, and then it’s a blur. But you haven’t answered me yet. Where am I, and who are you? And where is my uniform?”

"I'm sorry. My name is Lilith, you're in one of the guest rooms in my private apartment on this ship and your uniform has been laundered and is folded neatly on that table." She gestured to their right. "I had my physician examine both you and your crewmate to ensure there was no lasting damage from the transporter mishap. He had his staff prep you in a medical robe first. As he explained, you should be feeling right as rain shortly now that you've had some rest."

“Thank you,” Camille said, politely but still keeping her body tight and away from Lilith. She slid from the bed, getting out of it on the opposite side from where her…captor? host?…was seated. She kept her eyes on Lilith as she walked around the bed and gestured for her to look away while she removed the medical robe and started putting on her uniform.

Lilith stood and turned a chair a respectful 180 degrees and sat back down, crossing her legs.

“You keep giving me partial answers. I’m in your apartment on this ship. What is this ship?”

"I'm giving you complete answers, you just keep having more questions," Lilith countered. "This is my flagship. A ship populated by a rather fascinating species. They live in the dark void between the spiral arms of the galaxy. They're one of the founding members of my alliance."

“Alliance?”

"It's called 'The Avashesh'. Species too sparse, too weak, to be able to defend themselves alone." She shook her head. "Humans worry about the monsters in the dark, when they should spend more time worrying about the ones in the light." She gave a half shrug. "The alliance works for the common safety and betterment of its members by defending its members against hostile forces. As their leader, I work to maintain their safety and harmony."

Camille’s scientific curiosity was piqued. An alliance of diverse beings, most probably never seen before. But she was still off her ship, under the power of a force she didn’t yet understand. “You mentioned another crewmate of mine here. Who is it, and where are they?”

"I've no idea. A young man, rather handsome. Neither of you have name tags for me to reference." She shrugged helplessly. "He's two doors down on the left. I thought I'd take him a spot of tea. I find a snack helps with some men. We'll see if he's the type to be sociable over a drink."

She stood up and clasped her hands. "When you're feeling up to it, out the door, to the right, end of the hall. I'll have lunch prepared, and we can discuss how to return you to your crew."

Camille just nodded as Lilith left. She took a few minutes to get her bearings and examine (fruitlessly) her room. Just a comfortable space for sleep and recovery.

---

The doors opened to a second, similarly opulent bedroom and a figure stood in the doorway, light pouring in from the hallway. A feminine voice drifted in from the darkened hallway. "Lieutenant? Are you feeling better?"

AJ sat up, his eyes heavy with sleep. Looking around, he saw that he was in extremely unfamiliar surroundings that seemed to be designed to let his guard down. Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, he reverted to his Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape training "Taggart, AJ, Rank: Lieutenant, Serial Number: Alpha-Tango-Three-Two-Two-Six-Charlie-Delta-Sierra, Planet Of Origin: Earth."

The silhouette gave a slightly amused chuckle and shrugged. "I'll take that as a yes," she said, stepping into the light. She had a small, silver tray in her hands containing a pot of tea and two cups. She walked over and set it down on the small table by the bed. She pulled a chair over and sat down, crossing her legs and pouring out.

"I'm glad you're awake," she said as she poured. "We were getting a bit worried. The transporter suddenly registered an increase in mass. We didn't realize we had extra passengers at first. However, our doctor says you're fine, no negative effects, and you can join the ship's complement any time." She picked up a small pitcher. "Milk?"

AJ fixed his eyes on a spot on the bulkhead and repeated himself but added. "I will not accept special parole of favors from my captors." he said slowly and measured, vividly recalling his own Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape training when a particular sadistic instructor had broken two of his fingers and fractured his orbital in order to get him to talk.

The woman sighed and her eyes rolled a bit. "Very well. Have it your way. You are..." she shrugged, "officially barred from the pool deck. There. No special parole for you." She shook her head and drank most of her tea, then set the cup down. "So much for you people being civilized. Your companion was much more pleasant. Incidentally, she's two doors down on the right. When you feel up to it, feel free to go see her. Assuming of course, you're done holding yourself prisoner."

She stood up and headed for the door, stepping out into the corridor.

AJ stood as the woman left and the door slid shut. Checking himself over to ensure that he hadn't been altered, injected, or otherwise changed, he walked quickly towards the door and stepped into the hall, looking both ways and noting the dead silence- it was quite unnerving. Typically you expected to hear the hum of an engine or the beep of a console- [i]something[/i] that told you that there was some sort of life aboard. Running down the hall, he counted the doors until he found the second and burst inside, his eyes sweeping from side to side for any unexpected guards that might object to his entry. Finally laying eyes on Camille, he rushed over.

"Camille, are you okay?" he asked, shaking her shoulders slightly.

“Yes, I’m okay,” she replied, nodding. She gently removed his hands from her shoulders and resumed putting her jacket on. “What have you found out?”

AJ shook his head. "Not much, unfortunately. Although our captors seem rather contradictory about letting out of here. The woman that spoke to me practically opened the door but I can't shake the feeling that we've been dropped into a maze and left to run around- like rats in a lab." he said quickly. "What about you?" he asked.

“She claims to lead an alliance of species for mutual protection,” Camille said, “but I don’t quite know what that means yet, or what their intentions are. Our host answers questions with exactly as much information as constitutes an answer, and so I’ve needed to push for what little information I have. I think we might have been brought here accidentally though. She called it a transporter mishap. I was with Gabrielle when I was taken, so I think she was beaming her up and I was dragged along.”

"That exactly what happened to me, except with her brother-" AJ stopped for a moment and sucked on his teeth. "Every Dominion knockoff Starfleet comes across tries the 'We come in peace' shtick. You'd think they'd try a different tack and just say they want to kill us all," he said sarcastically. "Now, I don't know about you, but I think we should go poking around this little maze and try to find those kids. How are your hand-to-hand combat skills?" he asked.

“I can hold my own,” Camille said, confidently. She had become a much more competent fighter since joining the Victory crew and was ready to defend herself and fight alongside AJ.

When they made it into the corridor, AJ looked both ways- his eyes looking for any sign of movement and feeling vulnerable without a weapon in his hand. Taking a look to his right, there was nothing but a single solitary door. To his left, there were several doors. Moving past his own room, he found a second room whose doors slid open to reveal a storage room. AJ rushed in and began looking over the crates- trying to find something- anything he could use to defend himself. Opening several crates, he wasn't able to find anything remotely useful.

“They might not be lying about ‘we come in peace’,” Camille speculated as she joined him looking through crates. “We need to defend ourselves in potentially hostile territory but keep an open mind too. Don’t forget your history. The first war with the Klingons began in part because they didn’t believe us when we said the same thing.”

Cracking open a final box, AJ pulled out a large pipe wrench. Hefting it slightly, he pronounced it good and handed another to Camille. "It's the only thing I could find. I figure if we swing hard enough, it'll make someone think twice." he said

She took it with a nod.

Walking back into the hallway, he reached another door that didn't open as he approached it. Setting his wrench down on the deck, he felt around with his fingers for a groove and finally found a small finger hold.

As the final door opened, Lilith looked up from her glass of wine and regarded her two visitors. "Ah, finally," she said. "Sit, please," she gestured to two chairs opposite her. Spread around the table were various bowls, plates and tureens, some sitting on warmer plates, some on the table. Food ranged from a kefta-like skewers to a variety of roasted and steamed vegetables, to raitas and yogurts.

After a minute of silent staring at each other, Lilith sat back and crossed her legs. "Are you going to stand there like statues, or are you going to sit down and eat, and help me figure out how to get you home?"

Camille went first, gently shouldering past AJ to enter the room. He was the tactical specialist but she was the scientist, and this was first and foremost a learning opportunity (whether for knowledge or intel). She looked back to AJ and shrugged. “If she wanted to kill us, we would be dead. If she wanted to keep us locked up, we wouldn’t be allowed here. She’s in control but we aren’t actively being hindered. That may change but for now we gain nothing by fighting.” She turned back to Lilith and took the proffered seat.

"Succinct, analytical, smart," Lilith said, nodding in approval. "You come off as a scientist; am I right?"

“Oui,” Camille replied.

"Well, then, there's hope yet," Lilith said, picking up a kefta kebab and taking a piece of meat off, chewing thoughtfully. "And for the record?" she said, looking over at AJ. "I never said I came in peace, but so far I've been the more gracious one." She gave him a somewhat arrogant look and then looked back at Camille. "Here's the plan: in approximately twenty minutes, we'll be docking at our main station. There'll be a few minutes for cargo exchange, refueling and so forth, then we will arrange to have you two transported back to Federation space. You can contact your ship and go home, happily ever after. All I ask in return, is that you try not to hurt anyone while you're here. Reasonable?"

“Why were we taken to begin with?” Camille asked instead of answering. “You took us by accident because you took the young people we were with. But why take them?”

"Because I don't want them in the hands of someone I don't completely trust," Lilith said, frankly. "Any more than you'd wish your dangerous technology falling into someone else's hands."

“And why should we agree that your hands are the right hands?” Camille asked pointedly.

Lilith gave a small smile as she continued her meal. "Because this is my ship, these are my people and we're going to my station, making my hands the only hands. She wiped said hands on her napkin and cleaned her mouth just as their ship gave a slight shudder. "Ah, there we are. We'll be docking momentarily." She stood up and gestured to the table. "Please, help yourself. I'll escort you onto the station once I freshen up. If you'll excuse me." She nodded to them and left through a rear door in her apartment.

With Lilith gone, Camille turned back to AJ. “Fine, you were right. I don’t like this. Whatever these children are, she’s taken them from the Admiral because she thinks they’re dangerous technology only she should control. Normal people don’t think like that.”

AJ held back an "I told you so", but his scowl deepened.

 

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