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"Payment" - Part Two
Rating: R (Violence, Strong Language, Adult Situations, Brutality) Note: Vulcan terms used in this story were taken from the online Vulcan Language Dictionary, the Vulcan Language Institute, or I made them up myself.
Part Two: The newly minted Empress chewed her shapely lower lip absently while she watched the recording. Her carefully manicured finger stroked the side of her cheek thoughtfully as the other hand twirled a lock of glowing black hair. Travis sat looking at her silently. He was almost always silent escept in the throes of passion. Then he made plenty of noise all right. She giggled to herself, earning a curious look from him. She answered it with a grin and blew him a kiss before turning back to the monitor. That Vulcan was like a bad case of athlete’s foot - a perpetual annoyance that despite everyone’s best efforts continued to plague Humanity. It was beginning to look like she wasn’t going to be able to enjoy watching her die just yet after all. Her lip curled like an angry leopard. But maybe she could make the puta regret that fact as much as her Empress did. Hoshi switched off the recording and opened the historical database that they had found on Defiant. Under Xenobiology: Vulcan, Subcategory: Mating she found the reference she was looking for. It merely confirmed what she already knew. The Empire had learned years ago that killing one half of a mated Vulcan pair would sometimes cause the remaining partner to die. Debate had raged for years among academics on whether they died deliberately or not. Now she knew the answer. Defiant’s database also confirmed what T’Pol had told Trip. Mating during Pon Farr would almost surely lead to the formation of a mating bond. And contrary to current belief among the Empire’s intelligentsia, Defiant’s database made it plain that Vulcans and Humans were both biologically and telepathically quite compatible. In the Defiant’s home universe, such pairings were not uncommon. Apparently, the obscene half-breeds issuing from such unions were even granted the status of full Earth citizenship. The thought made Hoshi nauseous. “You’re upset,” Travis sounded concerned. He walked over to trace a hand over her cheek lovingly. She smiled up at him and kissed his palm. “Not really,” she assured him. “Just mildly irritated. You saw the security recording. I can’t afford to lose Tucker, especially now. You know what happened when he was in the booth. Imagine what would happen if he died because of that Vulcan. Right now is not the time to be dealing with a full scale mutiny in engineering. In a few months Tucker will be disposable. But not right now.” Travis’ eye glinted with humor. He already knew her well enough to guess what she had planned. “Will he thank you or curse you?” “Probably both,” Sato grinned nastily. “But I don’t care as long as T’Pol spends all her time wishing we had just executed her and gotten it over with. Let’s go.” A brief stop by the Armory got Major Reed digging for the items that his new Empress demanded. Sato snapped her fingers and ordered Reed to follow them to the interrogation room. The outraged Major glared murderously at her back until he saw the Royal Consort gazing back at him with deadly calm assessment. Instantly a curtain fell over his eyes and an expression of bland submission masked his face. Travis nodded back at him faintly and turned his eyes forward. But Reed was confident that the tall ex-Boomer was aware of his precise position down to the centimeter every step of the way. Sato caught the prisoner freezing in position as the door opened. Then she deliberately relaxed and settled back, assuming an arrogantly confident posture. Hoshi found her lips twitching. Considering what was about to happen to her, it actually did seem just a bit amusing. The pair of Human guards stood at paralyzed attention when Travis stalked between them, glaring right and left as if scanning them for any microscopic flaw. Their eyes brightened hopefully as their new Empress flowed into the room. Her reputation was well known among this crew, and no one had ever accused her of being... ungrateful... to her loyal friends. One of the guards even dared to touch his tongue to his lip and flick a glance at the Vulcan longingly. But all trace of ease vanished behind the Empress when Major Reed strode into the room. A cold wave of terror washed across the faces of the guards, and seemed to press ahead of him like a building storm front. The lights were bright and steady, but primal darkness entered the room and everyone felt it. Sato moved languidly around the interrogation chair, idly trailing a hand across the back and twirling a strand of T’Pol’s hair as she went. Travis Mayweather, Imperial Consort and newly raised to Admiral by Imperial decree, took a position at one end of the desk facing both the prisoner and the doorway. Major Reed stood with his back against a side wall, watching everyone and everything with eyes that did not rest. T’Pol locked her jaws and fought for the standard Vulcan expression of impassive indifference. Even she could tell it wasn’t working this time. Yet she would not let Sato see fear. Instead the Vulcan stirred the depths of her anger and brought it up to the surface, let it blaze in her eyes. She had nothing left to lose. Nothing to gain either, but she would die as her warrior ancestors had died, with a challenge on her lips. Hoshi sat down and lounged back in the desk chair. She draped one arm over the back and crossed her legs, regarding her new toy with a heavy lidded smile. T’Pol counted the seconds, and then the minutes while the tableau held. For two minutes and 13 seconds, no one moved or spoke. Then Sato whispered, “What, no groveling? No pleading for the lives of your people? No asking mercy for your co-conspirators? No offers of cooperation if we will only promise leniency? You disappoint me T’Pol. What will your family think of you when the bombs begin falling, knowing that you did not even try to bargain for them?” “My family is long dead,” T’Pol snarled, “either at the hands of Humans or in service of the Human empire. And what good would bargaining do with such as you? You would never keep such a bargain.” Sato laughed. “As if you would? Archer should have killed you the first time you gave him an excuse. Instead, he offered you a second chance to prove yourself to him. He gave you an opportunity to redeem yourself. Indeed, you proved yourself to him, did you not? And what about poor Trip? That pitiful blind fool actually had affection for you, the imbecile. Which just made it easier for you to use him like an Orion whore and then toss him into the agony booth. No, T’Pol. Accusations of treachery from you do not sting me.” T’Pol pressed her lips together tightly and made no reply. Hoshi watched carefully for a moment and then, deciding that the word game was over for the time being, leaned forward to push a button. “Empress Sato to Commander Tucker.” “Commander Tucker here your majesty.” “Report to the interrogation room immediately, Commander. I mean NOW.” “Understood your majesty. On my way.” T’Pol’s eyes were wide. Sato noted with satisfaction that for the first time she could detect a glint of uneasiness. TBC |
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