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Post by spacedaisy on May 10, 2018 7:51:48 GMT
The Department of Sciences Research Facility stood ominously quiet as Mari approached. By this time of day there were usually plenty of her colleagues coming and going. As she crossed the plaza out front, she could see a group of armed men gathered near the front entrance. Her pace slacked as she considered what this could mean and wondered if she should just turn back and go home. The curiosity was too much to ignore though; the curse of having a scientific mind. So she walked with as much confidence as she could muster towards the doors to her workplace.
As she neared them, one of the men blocked her path, “Name and identification?”
“Marika Lenali,” she nervously slipped her hand into her bag, her fingers searching for the familiar feel of her identification card, “what’s going on?”
The man’s stoney expression gave nothing away as he simply repeated, “Identification please.”
She raised an eyebrow, clearly getting the picture that she didn’t have the kind of security clearance for that information. She finally withdrew the plastic card bearing her photo which was encrypted to open the doors of the facility. He took it from her and scrutinized the photograph closely, looking at her to confirm it was indeed her and then return it. He looked over and nodded at the man next to him, “She’s the one. Escort her to her office.”
'She’s the one? I’m what one?' she wondered as she felt a slight sense of panic. Maybe she should have turned around after all. The second man motioned to the door and she led the way, scanning her card at the entrance and entering her code. With a heavy click, the lock released and she pushed the door open to enter the massive building, all the while aware of the man following at her heels. It was even more unsettling inside. The building was dark and where there would usually be hustle and bustle of scientists moving about the various laboratories and consulting each other on results, instead there were only empty corridors. Her shoes were soft soled and made very little noise, yet she still felt as if each step she took was a clatter upon the hard surface of the floor within the oppressively quiet atmosphere of the building. Turning down a hall she could see both the door to her office and the one before it were standing open. She frowned deeply at this, both of those offices were highly restricted.
Reaching the first door, she glanced inside and caught a glimpse of disarray within. Just as she passed the door, she thought she detected the lingering smell of smoke. Her thoughts raced as her brain was quickly trying to piece together what little she had seen, 'Was it a fire, is that why no one is here today? But if it was, what does that have to do with me? Why wasn’t I turned away too?' She rounded the corner into her office and stopped short in surprise at the man sitting behind her desk.
“Hello Marika. I suppose you know who I am?”
She nodded with a growing feeling of anxiety, “Yes, you’re the Overseer. But why are you here?”
“I have a puzzle I need you to help me solve,” he waved his hand toward her research station to the left and her gaze followed.
Mari looked back to him quickly and with concern edging her voice she asked, “What did you do with it?”
He shook his head and leaned back in her chair, crossing his arms and smirking, “I didn’t do anything with your research Doctor. I’m surprised you would even suggest such a thing.”
“Well no one else should have clearance to get in here, so where is it?”
He opened a file folder that was resting on the desk in front of him, and looked down to read it as he asked casually, “How well do you know N’Cara Moshal?”
The abrupt change of topic was dizzying and Mari looked at him in confusion, “N’Cara? She’s a colleague and a friend.”
The Overseer nodded slowly, “And she has access to your office, does she not?”
“I don’t understand what this is about, you’ve clearly gone through N’Cara’s office too or it wouldn’t be standing open. What is going on?”
“Answer the question please Marika.”
“Yes, she and I both have the same security clearance and we frequently consulted with each other so she had access to my office. Now will you tell me what is going on here? Where is my prototype?”
His eyes snapped up to her, “I think the better question would be when.”
“Someone used it?! It wasn’t properly calibrated yet, I’ve been working on it for months!”
"Not just someone. N’Cara.”
She was about to ask why N’Cara would do something like that when he held up a hand to stop her, “Have a seat.” Mari settled down anxiously on the edge of the guest seat. This made no sense, N’Cara wouldn’t have tried to use the PTTD; she knew it wasn’t ready.
With a gentle push, the folder slid across the desk toward her. She leaned in and spun it around so she could see whatever was in it. On top was a brief description of N’Cara, her life and her research. She leafed through the pages until she came to something that made her stop and and stare in disbelief. “What is this?”
“Photographs taken this morning at N’Cara’s home.”
Her eyes dropped back down to the photograph of Jaren, bloody and lifeless on a floor with a knife protruding from his chest. Her throat went dry and her voice hoarse as she asked, “Was she attacked too?”
“I think you misunderstand the situation... N’Cara did this.”
'There’s no way! She would never hurt a fly. Especially not Jaren, she loved him!' Her thoughts raced as she tried to wrap her mind around what he was telling her.
'I assure you, she killed him in cold blood,' the Overseer read her thoughts and spoke into her mind for a moment before he said aloud, “She was pursued here by a security task force. By the time they got here she had destroyed all her research and then used your device to escape.”
“If she used the device, she could be anywhere, at any time, it wasn’t able to be controlled to choose a certain destination or time yet,” her voice was barely above a whisper. Her closest friend was a murderer, and had stolen Mari’s life’s work. It was unimaginable to her.
“Dr. Lenali, you are the foremost authority on temporal mechanics on the planet and it was your prototype that she used to escape. I need you to find a way to locate and retrieve her.”
Mari’s brow furrowed as she considered everything he had said and she realized something didn’t add up here. There was one thought, a question without an obvious answer, 'Why?'
“Why what, doctor?”
“Why do you need her? Why is the Overseer of the entire Lo'Ami government concerning himself with one murderer?”
He stood up and crossed the room to study some charts she had on the wall, his hands clasped casually behind his back. She was struck in the moment by how tall he was, probably near 5’ 10” in fact. It made him an imposing figure even when doing something as innocuous as reading a wall chart. He leaned in close to the chart to read her scribbled notes and spoke slowly when he answered, “Dr. Moshal’s research is crucial to the defense of our planet. We must bring her back,” he turned and faced her, his voice now cold, “Let me be clear, this is not a request. You must find her.”
He headed for the door and paused just before exiting, saying over his shoulder, “It would be wise of you not to speak to anyone about this. Considering what happened to Jaren, it might not be safe.”
His meaning was all too clear.
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Post by Einar on May 10, 2018 8:41:18 GMT
wow Annie. I am so into this story already, and I know nothing about these people! Well done ! Now write more!
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Post by aoibheni on May 10, 2018 9:46:15 GMT
Holy crap! What is happening? Who are these people? How do they tie into the universe?!
I second Einar's demand for more.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2018 11:04:45 GMT
Interest piqued! Continue.... now. Write, dammit. WRITE.
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Post by spacedaisy on May 16, 2018 0:21:21 GMT
A piece of equipment struck the wall and fell to the ground with a clatter, breaking and scattering in smaller bits across the floor. Mari buried her face in the crick of her arm on her desk. Hot tears stung in her eyes, threatening to spill out. Weariness was breaking her down more everyday. It seemed the more she worked on the problem, the less confident she felt that there even was an answer.
Standing suddenly, she snatched up her bag and a shawl. Her skirt swished furiously around her ankles as she walked down the corridor and her colleagues parted for her as she stalked through the building. She had become increasingly antisocial over the past three months, and they found it best just to leave her alone. And alone she was, spending nearly every waking moment locked away in her lab, doing research that she would not share with anyone. Her superiors had been told to give her whatever she needed and not ask questions. Everyone was concerned about her, but no one was able to say anything. Her eyes revealed how little sleep she was getting, and every inadvertent interaction with her mind was filled with troubled thoughts, tumbling about as though tossed in a storm. No one could make sense of it, and no one dared try.
She made her way through the dusty streets of the city without seeing the faces of the people around her. Their thoughts and voices were present, but unheard. “Paoleti! Twelve for the price of ten!” The loud call of a rotund vendor startled her as she ducked around his fruit cart and hurried along her way. She turned into an alleyway and followed it back. It narrowed until she could reach her hands out and brush the rough walls of the buildings on either side of her. Finally she reached the end and it opened into a wide clearing.
Before her was a long building, with broken windows along the length of it. She headed for the eastern end of the building, but before she stepped onto the cool stone of the veranda she slipped off her shoes. Bending over, she washed the dust from her feet using the water from a large ceramic bowl. Straightening up again, she stood for a long moment simply staring. Her steel gray eyes taking in the great veranda and wide doors. It had been many long years since she had been here, and it was not as she remembered it. The walls were broken and crumbling, and there were marks where fire had scorched them. She drew a deep breath and then stepped forward, walking between the columns which once towered over her and now were left in a state of disrepair. She hesitated with her hand resting on the door when a voice spoke softly behind her, “Not many visit this site any longer.”
Mari turned in surprise to find an elderly woman, in a simple gray wrap dress, bare feet and her hair done up into one long braid. “Are you the chi?”
A giggle escaped the woman’s lips and her eyes sparkled, “My dear, there hasn’t be a chi here since the Upheaval, you’d be hard pressed to find any of the chidek still alive on the planet. I’m just a caretaker.”
The young woman felt a surge of disappointment and her face looked crestfallen, “Oh…”
“Would you like to go in with me? I was just going to clean the atrium up,” the woman tipped her head curiously at Mari and pushed the door open before entering without waiting for an answer. It was almost as if she knew the young visitor would follow her. And as if driven by a longing for something she had lost, Mari went inside after the elderly caretaker.
She stood near the center of the atrium, eyes closed and smiling contentedly as the sun’s rays warmed her upturned face, “I remember when this building would be full of people. All dancing to welcome Mish’pah in the morning and wish her safe journey at sunset,” she spoke softly as Mari approached her.
Her cloudy eyes turned to her visitor, “Let me see your hand.”
“I’d rather not…” Mari hated sharing her consecration mark with anyone, it had nearly gotten her killed during the Upheaval. The older woman grabbed hold of Mari’s hand anyway and pulled it close to her face. With a nod she ran a wrinkled finger lightly over the mark, drawing a gasp from Mari at the sensation as she yanked her hand away angrily. It was a very intimate gesture for someone with whom she had no relationship.
The woman cackled knowingly, “Yes little one, just as I thought. You were consecrated to Mish’pah. She’s drawn you here now in time of trouble, hasn’t she?”
“Mish’pah is a story made up by the Chidek and the Relur to keep control of the lower castes. She isn’t real.”
With a shrug the woman replied, “If you want to believe that, you can. But if you don’t mind my saying, you seem very bitter at your own people. I am not so forgetful that I don’t remember the mark of the Relur caste.” Mari clenched her hand into a tight fist at this statement, angry at the small tattoo on her palm that betrayed her family history.
The woman stood on her tiptoes and stretched her arms up toward the sky as though trying to will every muscle in her body to reach the sun. Then slowly she stepped her left foot backwards one step as her right arm came down in a graceful arc until she was bent sideways at the waist and trailed her fingers lightly across the hard surface of the ground. “Why are you here little one?”
Once again the tears began to fill her eyes and she fought against them as she whispered, “Because I don’t know what to do, and I don’t have anyone to turn to.”
Spinning slowly around, the woman lifted her hand from the ground, palm up in a gesture that Mari recognized from all those trips here as a child. It was the final motion in farewell to Mish’pah on her nightly journey. The old caretaker then rested that same hand on the young woman’s shoulder and said somberly, “Your journey is hidden. It goes where not even Mish’pah herself has gone, but you are strong. You won’t find what you are seeking. Instead you will find yourself in an unknown land, but there will be those you can trust. You won’t be alone. You will find what you need.”
As if the dam had broken the tears slipped from her eyes and slid down her cheeks, her head dropped in silent sobs. Perhaps it was just someone offering encouragement at a moment when she most needed it, or maybe she just needed a good cry, but it was like a weight lifting off her shoulders. By the time she had gotten her emotions under control again, the woman had walked away, nearly to the western doors. She looked back and waved cheerfully at Mari, calling, “Time to go. We both have work to do,” and with that she departed, leaving her alone in the middle of the long abandoned temple of Mish’pah.
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Post by Einar on May 16, 2018 9:30:55 GMT
oh yes, more please
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Post by spacedaisy on May 18, 2018 7:11:42 GMT
'How do I locate where she went?'
Mari paced the length of her small lab, eyes on the ground as she wracked her brain. She had gone over everything many times. N’Cara had used the device just shortly after Mari had made a breakthrough, but before she could calibrate it to allow for precise navigation within the time stream. She knew she needed to find a way to approach it from the other end, a way to trace the path. Stopping in front of a board filled with equations, she stared at them for what must have been the thousandth time in the last hour alone.
A gentle knock on the door frame drew her attention, and she turned to find Dr. Phendir leaning in with a meek and somewhat apologetic smile on his face. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I thought you should eat something.” He stepped into the room and she saw now that he was carrying a small bowl of food. Her stomach rumbled at the smell of the savory stew and she realized she hadn’t eaten anything since last night.
“Thank you, I forgot to bring my lunch in today.”
He nodded, “And yesterday as well.”
She gave him an embarrassed look as she felt the need to defend herself, “I’ve just been very wrapped up in my work,” she gave a half hearted wave at the mess of equations on the wall.
“Well, we’ve been worried about you. You need to take care of yourself Dr. Lenali. It’s not worth killing yourself over the work.”
The irony of his statement was not lost on her and she carefully steered her thoughts in another direction, “I heard your daughter turned eight a couple days ago, did you do anything special for her?”
He smiled broadly, it was well known he loved to talk about his family, and who could blame him, his two children were adorable and prodigies in their own right. Even his wife was head of the agricultural sciences department. “We took her to the beach on the southern shore of Ronil. She loves to swim in the ocean. We never used to live close enough to any ocean when we were in Kitaran Province.”
“It sounds like a lovely day.”
“It really was. Well, I need to get back to work so I will leave you to eat your lunch,” he headed for the door and then turned around abruptly, “You forgot to account for gravitational waves.”
Mari blinked at him, “What?”
He pointed at her board, “Gravitational waves would make an impact on that equation on the left there. You need to account for it in order to get an accurate result.”
She looked at the equation he was talking about for a minute before dropping the bowl onto her desk, oblivious to the mess she made as stew sloshed over the rim of the bowl. Mari jumped up and ran over to the board, quickly erasing her previous equation and rewriting it. Her marker flew across the surface, completing the figures with which she had previously been struggling. The marker slipped from her fingers and she covered her mouth with her hand as she realized he had just given her the solution. He eyed her in surprise as she whispered, “hirila’h a’mai’orila, that’s it…! How did I miss that?!”
“I didn’t realize you were religious Dr. Lenali,” his tone was disapproving and she looked at him in confusion.
“What? I’m not, but look at that!” He looked at her work with disinterest, out of context it didn’t mean much to him and he had no idea what she was currently researching. So instead Dr. Phendir simply shook his head and left her to celebrate privately.
Her celebration was short lived though, as she realized she would have to tell the Overseer that she could locate where N’Cara had gone. She dropped down and turned on her console, putting in a transmission to the private line he had left for her to contact him. As she waited for him to answer, she nervously fingered the sheer blue material of the hem of her wrap. Something told her that the man was not telling her everything. He read her thoughts so easily, but it was clear he had been trained to hide his own very well.
“Dr. Lenali, I trust you are calling me with good news?” His thin face seemed to perfectly convey a passive interest. Too perfectly in fact. She wondered what was behind the facade.
“I think I found the answer.”
“Excellent news! How soon should we be able to send someone after her?”
“What happens to her when she is located?”
Mari thought for a moment she saw the smallest twitch in his eyebrow, and for the first time she was certain that there was a deep rage beneath his carefully composed exterior. This was a very dangerous man who did not appreciate his orders being questioned.
“She will be brought back here and be made to answer for her crimes.” This was what she expected, but not what she hoped to hear. If N’Cara had destroyed her own research, she must’ve been trying to keep it out of the hands of the Elect and the Overseer.
“I should have a new prototype finished and ready in two to three weeks.”
He smiled and Mari tried not to shiver at the malice that was barely concealed, “Very good Doctor, I look forward to its completion.” The transmission ended and she stared at the darkened screen thoughtfully. It was clear to her that N’Cara was in trouble, and now she suspected she might be as well.
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Post by spacedaisy on Jul 19, 2018 23:25:06 GMT
The moon was just a sliver in the sky as Mari slipped through the streets. As she walked, she tried to stay close to the buildings to avoid being noticed. She reached the research facility, but instead of crossing the open plaza, she skirted the perimeter, staying in the shadows of the trees. Finally creeping up to the building, she scanned her badge and slowly pushed the door open just wide enough to slide through. Her bare feet padded silently through the foyer and down the corridor towards her office.
Once inside her own office she set up a small lamp on her desk to bathe the room in a dim glow. She hoped it wouldn’t draw too much attention from outside. She carefully retrieved a bulky binder from her shelves and flipped through to her last calculations. In the low lighting she had to lean quite close to be able to read what she had written. “237.52,” she muttered to herself as she moved over to her research station to retrieve her new prototype. From within the soft lining of metal box she withdrew a device that fit comfortably in the palm of her hand. It’s surface was nearly taken up in its entirety by a flat touch screen which had a row of various colored indicator lights running along the right side next to the screen.
The device whirred softly as it began to initialize and slowly the lights blinked on, one by one. She could feel it beginning to gently warm up as she made an adjustment using the small touchscreen, whispering to herself again, “237.52.” Mari had gone over the calculations about twenty five times until she was absolutely certain they were correct. After Dr. Phendir had pointed out her mistake it became a lot easier to find a way to trace N’Cara’s jump. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do once she got there, it was hard telling how far her friend may have travelled since her arrival. Mari just knew she couldn’t trust the extraction crew that the Overseer intended to send.
He believed she would need one more week before the final calibrations were made, but Mari had padded that time for this very reason. As she stood there in the amber glow of her office, holding the device in her hand and preparing to make the jump she felt a moment of hesitation. Glancing around her office she realized that her life was about to be altered forever. Even if she found N’Cara, she would become a criminal as well. The Overseer would charge her with treason, no doubt. She had never been a courageous individual, even after the Upheaval her life had not been a story of bravery but of cowardice. She had spent most of her young life hiding with people who sympathized with her position until enough time had passed that people began to forget their anger. She was always careful to hide her consecration mark, and never to make any waves. As long as she kept her head down, no one bothered to look at her very closely. Until now. Once she did this, all that would change.
‘Deep breaths Mari, you can do this.’ Suddenly she remembered those were the words her father had said to her the last time she saw him. They had fled from their home as word had got to them of the mob sweeping through the city, but as they had just reached the back end of their family compound they heard their neighbor calling to them for help. She was elderly and never had children, so she lived alone. Mari could still remember the look in her father’s eyes as he had hidden her in a copse of trees near the edge of their property. She had cried, begging him not to leave her, but she couldn't stop him. He hugged her tightly and whispered those words of encouragement. Part of her wondered if he knew he wasn't coming back when he said it. She had been so angry with him for years for abandoning her. Now in this moment she finally understood why. When faced with staying safe and hidden or risking everything to save someone else, there really isn't a choice at all. Something in her wouldn't let her hide. Not this time.
She tapped the screen and it seemed to her as though the room erupted in a whirl of shifting colors and sparks of light. The familiar surroundings of her office blurred and she felt a strange sensation. What began as a prickling feeling along her skin intensified quickly until she felt as though electricity was coursing through her body. She wanted to cry out in agony, but she could barely move. Finally a blinding flash of light seemed to sear her eyes before darkness enveloped her and it felt as though she was floating. Everything seemed as though it was moving in slow motion around her until she suddenly fell.
Mari’s fall was suddenly broken by landing forcefully on a cold, hard surface. From the sound it made when she hit, it was most likely made of some kind of metal. With a groan, she rolled over and opened her eyes. Still nothing but darkness. Panic began to rise steadily within her, as she realized she couldn’t see! The sound of her own heart pounding filled her ears and she tried to sit up, but every part of her body seemed to ache in protest. Finally she managed to lift her upper body up and carefully felt her surroundings in search of the PTTD, there seemed to be crates stacked around her but she couldn’t locate the device. The upright position didn’t agree with her, and just as her head began to swim she thought she heard the sound of a door sliding open and footsteps approaching. The last thing she heard before the deep sleep of unconsciousness claimed her was a voice calling, “Dimaik, you’d better come here…”
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Babs
Lore Committee
Posts: 210
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Post by Babs on Jul 19, 2018 23:36:17 GMT
That was also worth the wait..
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Post by Einar on Jul 20, 2018 8:32:05 GMT
oh yes. More please. Now.
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Post by spacedaisy on Jul 20, 2018 22:59:29 GMT
“You can’t be serious!”
Dimaik cleared his throat nervously, “She’s clearly been injured, what else do you expect me to do?”
“Turn her in to the authorities!” Sarril’s tone made it clear she thought he had lost his mind by even considering any other course of action.
“We don’t even know what happened to her, I would like to at least help her to recover before we take any action.” He spoke carefully, not wishing to anger his wife any further and at the same time not intending to budge. It was a fine line every husband has had to tread at one point or another. Unfortunately for him, Sarril was having none of it.
“It could take weeks for her to recover fully! If she is found here they will believe you have stolen her and we will lose everything. Is that what you want?”
“Sarril, please consider - “
Her eyes burned with anger as she motioned to the door, through which their two small children could be seen playing in the other room, “No! You consider your children! We will be homeless and disgraced!”
He looked beyond her to his boys and answered quietly, “They are the reason I can’t do what you ask.”
“I hope she’s worth it,” his wife responded, “because this slave may cost you your family. Come find me when you regain your senses!” She stormed out of the room and herded the boys out the front door.
He watched his family leave with a feeling of deep sadness. His wife didn’t understand the sympathy he felt for these people. For years he had been here, working in the transport business. He had moved his whole family from Romulus to make a living off of the mining industry that had sprung up here in the last seven decades since the Empire had taken control of this small world. It provided well for them, but he grew more conflicted the longer he lived here. The Empire had certainly grown richer on the resources of this planet, but they had also inadvertently discovered another resource in the inhabitants. He had seen families torn apart by the slave trade that had sprung up as a result. He had lived his entire life believing that their military superiority entitled them to the spoils of war when they conquered their adversaries, because that was what he had been taught. It’s funny how many things you can believe you are entitled to until you have to look in the face of the people you oppress to achieve them. Dimaik had never quite fit the mold, and everyone had known that. So how could he explain to his wife that he wanted his boys to learn to live a more worthy life than this? A life that was not built with the blood and tears of others. He wanted them to know Romulans could be better than this, better than exploiting a weaker species.
He picked up the plate of food he had prepared and carried it into the boys’ bedroom where he had hidden his guest. She had been mostly unconscious for the last ten days with only a few semi-lucid moments. The windows were shuttered so no prying eyes could see in and it made the room fairly dark when he drew the door shut behind him. As he settled on the chair next to one of the two beds, she stirred.
He spoke slowly in broken sentences, having only a rudimentary understanding of her language. “How are you feeling?”
Mari blinked, trying to focus her eyes. She had regained her vision, but everything was still very blurry and difficult to make out. “I’m alive?” In the depths of her tumultuous dreams she had believed she had died; surely she couldn’t have survived the electrical current she had felt in the jump.
“You are alive.”
It must not have been real electricity, no Lo’Ami nervous system could endure it. A jolt even a third of how that felt could be fatal to her. He turned on a light and she winced as a stab of pain shot through her. He noticed her reaction and quickly dimmed it, “Is that ok?”
She nodded and then tried to look at him closer, but still wasn’t able to discern much, “I heard shouting. It sounded like Romulan.”
“That was my wife, we are Romulan.”
She seemed to have run from one enemy right into the arms of another. The Romulans had been posturing and threatening her homeworld for years, the Elect believed the only reason they had never attempted a military move on their planet was their location just inside the Neutral Zone. The threat of Starfleet retaliation kept the Lo’Ami safe despite their refusal to join the UFP. “Where am I?” she spoke now in Romulan. Her people believed it best to know your enemy well so it was frequently taught in higher education.
“You’re in my home. Did you run away from your owner or trader?”
‘Owner or trader?’ she thought with confusion. “I think you're mistaken. I’m not a Mayim.”
He held the plate out for her and she took it, “I don’t know what a Mayim is, but if you ran away you will be in a great deal of trouble.”
“I’m not a slave,” something was tugging at the back of her mind, she felt like something was off.
“You’re Lo’Ami, aren’t you?”
She nodded and took a bite of meat, then looked at it closer, realizing it was jonta. If he was serving her jonta, this must be her homeworld, but what was a Romulan doing here?
“Then you are a slave. Certainly you have an owner somewhere who is angry about your disappearance. How did you get into my transport ship?”
Swallowing her bite of meat she looked at him and asked with trepidation, “What is the year?”
He eyed her curiously, thinking it a rather odd question, “It’s 2379.”
‘Fifty three years into the future? That’s not right, I should have gone one hundred and twenty one years into the past.’
Another realization suddenly struck her, the Romulans were occupying her homeworld now, “When did the Romulan Empire conquer this world?”
He poured her a glass of water, “More than seventy years ago.”
Mari froze, a bite of food halfway between her plate and her mouth. She slowly set it back down as the full implication of his answer sank in, the dates didn't line up. She hadn’t traveled in time at all, something had gone terribly wrong. She had the sinking suspicion that this wasn't her universe at all.
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Post by spacedaisy on Jul 21, 2018 14:40:18 GMT
“You must leave! Now!”
Fear gripped Mari as Dimaik burst into the room in a panic. “Why, what’s happened?”
He was stuffing items into a bag, but at her question he froze, then looked up at her with shame in his eyes, “My wife, she reported you to the authorities.”
For a moment time stood still, and then as the gravity of her situation sank in, she leaped out of the bed. She ignored the protests of her still aching muscles. It had been only fourteen days since Dimaik’s wife had found her in their transport ship. She knew that she was nowhere near physically ready to run, but she didn’t have a choice.
Dimaik tossed the bag to her, “There’s enough food for a couple days, maybe more if you ration it. And some extra clothes too.” He motioned for her to follow and led her quickly out of the room and through the house to the back door.
The door creaked open to reveal a garden shrouded in the darkness of night. He slipped an arm around her to nudge her out the door. She turned back to him, fear etched on her face, “Where do I go?”
He looked into her terror filled eyes and was once again moved with compassion. It was a trait many of his kind would consider a fault. He pointed across the small backyard to a shed, “Hide in there. The floorboards come up, you should be able to fit underneath. Hurry!” He shoved her in the direction of the shed and shut the door behind her.
The sound of voices reached her ears, coming from the other side of the fence on his property. She didn’t have much time now. Darting quickly across the rows of carefully planted vegetables, her body screamed in agony at her. Just as she was nearly to the shed, her foot caught on a hoe that had been left out, sending her sprawling to the ground.
“Did you hear that?” She could hear the voices more clearly now. There wasn’t much time! Willing herself to keep going, Mari pulled herself up off the ground, oblivious to the damp dirt that clung to her knees and hands. Her mind was focused solely on reaching the shed. Her hands gripped the door latch and lifted it carefully, desperate for it to remain silent.
Then she was inside, pulling the door shut behind her. Pushing aside some crates she used her weight to feel for the loose floorboards. As soon as she found them she dropped to her knees and began prying them up. The hole wasn’t big enough, but she could hear the back door opening again. She pried one more board up and then forced herself down into the small crawl space beneath. Then she snaked her hands back out to try and pull the boards to set back over her. Mere seconds after she slid the last board into place the shed door swung open with such force it shook the tiny structure violently.
Mari drew a deep breath and held it as she heard the heavy boots on the wood floor of her hiding place. He flicked a light on and she could just barely see him through the cracks of the floorboards. He shoved the crates around and peered behind them and seemed satisfied no one was there. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief as the door closed after him. Now it was just a matter of waiting for them to leave.
She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself, to slow down her racing heart and panicked breathing. It was hard not to have flashbacks to other times when she had to hide to survive. Secreted away in cellars or closets for hours at a time. However, this time she wasn’t hiding from her own people. It was a small consolation at least.
Voices drifted to her once again, men she didn’t know and then a female voice. It was vaguely familiar. “Don’t do this Sarril!” The sound of Dimaik’s voice clicked everything into place, it was his wife. Mari’s heart sank as she heard the woman say, “Check under the shed, he sometimes hides valuables under there until he can better secure them.”
Moments later the floorboards were pulled away and she found herself staring up into the sneering face of a Romulan with an energy weapon. “Thought you could get away, did you little slave? Come on, let’s go. Time to figure out who your proper owner is.” He reached down into the hole and roughly yanked her out, wrenching her arm out of socket and eliciting a cry of pain from her.
“Hey! Careful with the merchandise,” a new voice boomed forth with irritation. She cradled her arm and turned to see a hulking Orion standing there looking her over. “She’s good stock. I’m sure someone’s angry that she’s missing,” he commented with a chuckle. Before she knew what was happening, a sedative was pressed to her neck. Her knees wobbled and the Romulan who pulled her from the shed caught her as she passed out. The last thing she saw was Dimaik looking on sorrowfully as they took her.
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Post by spacedaisy on Jul 22, 2018 5:57:04 GMT
“She doesn’t have a tag or a brand.”
Mari sluggishly tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt so heavy she could barely hold them open for more than a moment.
“Maybe she got the tag removed.”
“No, there’d be a scar, doesn’t look like she ever had one."
She tried to move, but pain shot through her shoulder and took her breath away. As she began to come out from under the sedative, she became more aware of her surroundings. She could hear the conversation taking place somewhere behind her, but she couldn’t see them. Her back was up against what felt like metal bars and as she looked around she realized that she was in a cell, not even long enough for her to fully stretch out in.
“How is that possible?”
“We’ve all heard the rumors about small groups of the natives living in the more isolated pockets of the planet, maybe she is one of them.”
“Those are just stories, no one could survive in those areas.”
“Then how do you explain her?”
She used her good arm to push herself off the floor, her neck was stiff and sore from laying at an odd angle. Rolling it a bit to work out the knot, she noticed that her cell was one of about seven, but there were only three others that were occupied. In the cell next to hers a Lo’Ami male watched her curiously.
“Why don’t we ask her, looks like she’s awake.”
Carefully adjusting her body so she could face her captors, Mari leaned back against the other wall of the cell. Her arm was still cradled close to her body as she took in the two Orion men who had been discussing her. One sat in a chair, leaning lazily back while the other stood closer to her cell, arms crossed as he glared down at her.
“Why don’t you have a tag or a brand?” The one standing demanded gruffly.
“Why don’t you have a third eye?” she responded tersely. She didn’t feel like making it easy on them, besides they wouldn’t believe her if she told them she was from a parallel universe anyway. She wondered if Orions even knew anything about the multiverse theory, these guys didn’t strike her as the most educated beings in the universe.
He didn’t care for her attitude and pulling out a small stunning device, he activated it, allowing an electrical current to spark and arc between the prongs at the end. “I wouldn’t be such a smart ass if I were you,” he said, waving the device in front of her cell, “You and I both know what something like this would do to you.”
Mari clenched her jaw, deciding it best not to respond.
“Did someone remove your tag?” the electricity still crackled as he asked this, he wanted to ensure she was properly motivated.
“I don’t even know what that is.”
“You’re lying, every Lo’Ami is tagged at birth these days.”
With a small shrug of her good shoulder she replied, “You can check me, you won’t find any sign of ever having any tag.”
The Orion that was sitting behind him finally spoke up, “Put the stunner away Dagav. She’s too valuable to kill.”
“What should we do with her?”
The other man finally stood and moving over to the cell, he stooped down to look her over, “No tag, no brand means we can claim her. She will probably go for a high price. We should get Zeke in here to run her genes. She looks pure, not weak like most of the stock these days,” as he said this he cast a derisive glance at the man in the cell next to hers. “He needs to fix her arm anyway, no one will pay a premium for her if she’s damaged.”
He stood up again and smiled down at her before looking at Dagav, “Then he can tag her.”
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Post by spacedaisy on Jul 23, 2018 4:21:05 GMT
‘You shouldn’t antagonize them,’ a voice spoke softly into her mind. She turned her head to see the man in the next cell. She was leaning up against the bars that separated them, so he was very close to her.
‘Yeah, I gathered.’ For a moment she stared through the bars at the door the two Orion men had left through, considering what they had said. ‘What did they mean about my genes?’
‘Most Lo’Ami are bred like livestock now, so our genes are thinning out, I thought everyone knew this.’
Mari looked at him in alarm, ‘What do you mean, thinning out?’
‘See that woman over there?’ He looked in the direction of a woman a couple cells down from them, she was huddled in the corner of her cell, hugging her knees to her chest. ‘Try reading her thoughts, connecting to her, anything.’
It took less than a second for her to realize, she couldn’t hear this woman’s thoughts, sense her emotions, nothing was coming through to her. She turned back to him, ‘We’re losing our connection to each other?’
‘Some of us. Others, like me, are losing other abilities. My eyesight is poor, my sense of touch is limited, no better than those Orions.’
Mari rested her head back against the bars, closing her eyes as she processed this information. She wondered what that would mean for her, if her genes were stronger because she hadn’t been part of this course of development for her people, what would she be sold for?
‘Most likely either a breeder will buy you to strengthen their stock, or some rich Melila sainila who wants a new toy to show off to his rich friends.’
He dropped his gaze to her hand, 'You're consecrated.'
Mari nodded, clenching her fist involuntarily at the mention of it.
'But you don't look old enough, we've not been allowed to observe our rituals since the Romulans came. You can't be more than forty.'
'I'm 34,' she closed her eyes as she leaned her head back against the bars, 'It's a long story.'
The heavy metal door swung open and her new friend scurried away from her, at least as far as his small cell would allow. Mari looked on in surprise as a human male entered the room, carrying a small leather satchel. He swung the door shut behind him and she could hear the lock engaged from the other side. Then crossing the room, he unlocked the cell and stepped inside to kneel on the ground next to her.
“Don’t bother trying anything, you can’t get out of this room if you wanted to.”
She watched him thoughtfully as he set his bag down and dug into it to retrieve a medical scanner, “You’re human.”
“You’re observant,” was his dry retort. “You can call me Zeke. Not that you’ll be around long, I’ll bet they find a buyer for you pretty quickly.”
“Why are you working with the Orions and the Romulans? I mean, the Federation doesn’t condone the slave trade.”
“Just because I’m human doesn’t mean I’m Starfleet,” he responded as he looked at the readings from her scan, “I’m working with the people who pay me. Don’t much care who they are or what they do.”
Mari watched him in silence now, appalled that someone could be so cavalier about the enslavement of another species. She had come to expect more of humans. “Give me your hand,” he commanded and she held her hand out to him. “That’s odd,” he said as he looked at her consecration mark, “We don’t see these often anymore.” He dismissed it with a shrug and then pressed her index finger to a small tube which stabbed her finger with a needle to draw a bit of blood. She drew a sharp breath at the sudden prick and he released her hand, dropping the small tool back into his bag.
‘That was to run your genes,’ she heard the man in the next cell speak into her mind once again, but she was careful not to give away that she heard him. She’d rather her captors didn’t realize the full extent of her abilities.
“Alright,” he looked up at her now, for the first time really. He was clearly used to seeing them as nothing more than property. He gripped her hand in his own, “I need to relocate your shoulder, so brace yourself. This is going to hurt.”
Barely getting a chance to grasp the bars next to her and brace, he suddenly moved, popping her shoulder back into place in a quick motion. Searing pain shot through her and she let out a loud groan through clenched teeth. “All done, shoulder is back in place. It’s going to hurt for a while though. An unfortunate side effect of your unique physiology. Natural Selection can be a bitch.” He chuckled at his own joke, not caring if Mari found him funny or not.
Between gasps of breath Mari muttered a sarcastic thanks. He shook his head, “I wouldn’t thank me just yet, that wasn’t the most painful part.” As he said this he withdrew what looked like a small gun from his bag and held up an oblong silver object for her to see. It was about a half inch long and he explained, “This is your tag. It'll identify who you belong to, and can be easily transferred any time you're sold to someone new. And we’ll upload your DNA information onto it too once I finish sequencing it. You should just be glad you're getting a tag and not branded, those are painful whenever they have to change 'em. It's like a gift that keeps on giving, except the gift is an ugly sweater from your granny that you have to wear every time she comes round.”
She watched as he loaded the small chip into the gun. Then he reached up and took hold of her chin to turn her head before he moved her hair out of the way. Pressing the tip of the gun against her head behind her right ear, he paused and commented, “Now this is going to really hurt.”
He pulled the trigger and almost immediately Mari passed out once again.
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Post by spacedaisy on Jul 23, 2018 21:12:50 GMT
The next time Mari awoke, she found herself in a dimly lit room, on a stiff bed. There were no windows, and the room was devoid of anything else aside from a small table next to the bed with a glass of water on it and a chair. Currently occupying the chair was Zeke. She blinked and sat up unsteadily, grimacing a bit from the headache that was pounding a rhythm inside her skull.
“Where am I?”
He held his hand out and in his palm were two small white pills, “Take these, they’ll help your headache.”
She eyed him warily for a moment and then took the pills from him. Grabbing the glass she popped the pills into her mouth and tossed back a gulp of water to wash them down. He tipped his head to the side, watching her for a moment, “Who are you?”
“Why do you care, don’t you just want to sell me to the highest bidder anyway?”
He ran a tired hand over his face in frustration, “I sequenced your DNA, but I also found something unique about the sample I took from you. Your quantum signature doesn’t match this universe. So,” here he settled back, lacing his fingers together behind his head, “who are you?”
Her suspicions were confirmed. With a sigh, she lay back down and stared up at the ceiling. She was clearly in some kind of cell still, the dull gray color of everything was similar to that of the other room she was in previously. “I’m no one of consequence,” was her weary reply.
Zeke leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and looking at her intently, “I don’t think that’s true.”
Something in his voice piqued her interest and she turned to get a better look at him. He was a fairly average human male, maybe just an inch or two shy of six feet tall she would have guessed. He had black hair sprinkled with silver and a face with graying stubble and lines that gave him away to be probably in his late forties, early fifties.
“You’re safe for now, I convinced them you were too valuable to keep in central detention, so they moved you to this isolation room. I’m going to try and get you out, but we won’t have much time.”
Mari looked into his eyes, trying to determine if he was lying and this was a trick. She found none of the tell tale signs, his eyes held her gaze steadily and his pupils were normal, his breathing seemed normal too. She sat up and held out her hand to rest lightly on his own for a brief moment. His pulse and blood pressure were normal too, could it be he was telling the truth? “Who are you?” It was her turn to ask him.
He smiled, a rather nice smile she thought, “Ezekiel Anderson. I don’t have time to tell you much more right now, but believe me when I say you can trust me.” He stood up and headed for the door, pausing before he opened it, “I’m going to make some arrangements to get you out of here, just hold tight, ok?”
She nodded and before he opened the door she said, “Zeke!” The man looked questioningly at her over his shoulder, “My name is Mari.” He smiled and gave her a nod in return before leaving her alone in her cell.
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