Is Today a Good Day to Die?
Posted on Wed Jan 10th, 2018 @ 8:11am by Captain Remas McDonald
1,905 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
S1:2: Rubicon
Location: Brig
Timeline: MD 7 14.00
Going to the brig was something Rena hoped she wouldn't have to do often. It had an air about it, a vibe that was almost ominous, and for good reason. But if she wanted to further study this virus, she needed more samples from the host, preferably the one that was still alive. The Trill stared at the doors for a moment before stepping through, letting the doors slide shut behind her before continuing in. There was an officer manning the post near the front of the brig, and behind him were the rows of cells. "I'm here to collect a couple samples from our, uh, guest," she told the officer.
"What a polite euphemism for a prisoner," came the echoing retort from the only active brig cell. The brig officer on duty raised an eyebrow at Kal, and slowly lowered a hand to rest on the hilt of his phaser.
"Ma'am, would you like mt to get some more guard here to help you?" he asked quietly.
The doors parted and a Bolian entered, Rena's partner in scientific crime."Sorry I'm late, I got lost." Koliar said with a chuckle
Rena gave a smile to the Bolian, pardoning his tardiness, before answering the brig officer. "Let's do that, to be on the safe side." Truthfully, she was a bit nervous, she had heard of the man on the other side of the cell via patients, and based off previous study of this virus, he was biologically Klingon. It would ease her nerves a bit if they had extra hands... just in case.
"If my understanding of Federation law is correct, the collection of biological samples, be they blood or other primary genetic bodily fluid, requires a court writ or cause to believe it will aid in the identification of a crime? Given as to how I was caught for my crime, and have had no chance to cause another, I would advise the legal ramifications of your actions will be severe," the voice from the brig cell informed.
"Yeah well, uhh." Koliar said not sure what to retort looking at his counterpart with a grimace.
"We are better understanding how you managed to pull off your crime," Rena answered, after thinking for a moment. "Not that we have to share details." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two more security officers enter the brig before nodding to the officer manning the console. "Let's get this over with."
"And here I thought all access to a inmates bodily autonomy was to be regulated by an appointed judicial overseer? But I could be wrong, I mean I only studied law at Columbia University on Terra. They might have missed something," Bruke said. He was sat on the small cot of his cell, hands resting on his lap in a contemplative stance. "Unlikely, I mean...when would the Federation ever make a mistake?"
"The Captain cleared it before we left," Rena grumbled, starting to get annoyed with this dude. "And there is a judicial figure on board, so if you are done, please stay seated and shut up."
"I intend to be a good and model soul for you doctor," Bruke said from within his cell.
Nodding to the two additional guards, she watched them get in position before turning to the brig officer. "Go ahead and lower it." The two guards raised their weapons and aimed them at the prisoner, the two standing about two meters apart so they still had a shot if the Klingon tried anything.
She walked into view of the cell and the Klingon, a bit of a chill going down her spine. Looking at her Bolian partner, she instructed him to collect his samples and she would get hers.
Like a saint before the lions, he offered his arms to the two doctors.
"So...where are you two from? I could start if you like?" he said politely.
"Well I'm a Bolian, so Bolar obviously," Koliar said thinking he was being coy as he began to draw some blood.
"But I'm Klingon, and was raised in the Hamptons of Up State New York!" he said in feigned shock. "Looks can be deceiving, as you well know. Just because we look like we come from somewhere else does not mean we are from somewhere else. I was already a man by the metric of the Empire before I learned anything about the home I had never known. The world that had abandoned me."
'Did I just get him to reveal part of how he came to be inadvertently?!' Koliar thought, clearly letting it get to his head as if he had solved the mystery with one sentence. "Well," he said clearing his throat,"Good for you, now stop talking!" he added while still feeling self-important, making the demand almost a shout with his new found confidence.
"Ahh a man of the old school, the break noses and get answers school huum? That's not a very utopian mindset Mr Thug. Your superior officer might begin to question if you're on her side," Bruke purred. "It's amazing how quickly thoughts of treason and wrongdoing are attached to those who think differently. I didn't start out here, I started in a lecture hall listening to an ethic's debate. Do you know what ethics are Mr Thug?"
Bruke looked at Kal, and smiled.
"I'm sure our ancient friend here can illumainte."
Rena was just inside the cell, arm crossed, waiting until Koliar finished before she would take her own samples. "It's rude to refer to a woman by her age," she said, giving him a 'did you seriously just say that' brow raise.
"Indeed that is true, but then should I refer to you as a woman? After all, a Host is chosen not for gender but for availability. Are we speaking to the Doctor who was or the chimaera who is?" Bruke mused, shrugging. "I mean no offence. In fact, for you, I am a staunch support. Many of my peers and contemporaries loved to use a Trill as an example of Federation Imperialism. To take something that was unique and precious, and gut it out and replace it would something alien and all powerful. Some took their demonstrations very....viscerally."
Koliar just chuckled nervously and backed away,"I'm done now." he said to his colleague.
Bruke moved. It almost looked like a full body spasm, rocking his body up off the cot where he'd been sat placidly, and throwing himself at Koliar. It was enough to put the man into an embrace, but with the momentum spent Bruke allowed himself to fall back still clutching Koliar. The terrorist's dead weight dragged him down, and the two landed on the cot, Bruke's arm already snaking around the man's head and levering it against his shoulder.
"Raise your voice and his neck snaps," Bruke's cold eyes glowered at Kal.
Koliar began to sob and scream louder than a Ferengi
Rena's eyes widened, uncrossing her arms as she took a couple steps forward, then paused at his words. "Koliar, shut up," she told the wailing Bolian. Behind her, the two security guards took a step forward, their weapons on the Klingon. She held up a hand, telling the officers to keep their distance, but in this situation, she knew they would search for an opening and take it. "You're outnumbered," she warned him. The hand she used for the security guards slowly fell to her side, near her phaser. "Give him to me, and we won't shoot." She knew it was a long shot, and diplomacy wasn't her strong suit, but she could try. At the placement of Bruke's hand on the Bolian's neck, she could guess which bone he could be going for, and broken necks were extremely difficult to fix to begin with.
"D-d-d-don't do-o-o-o-o this!!!" he exclaimed in between screams, his cheeks turning a darker shade of blue due to their being tear stained
Bruke's arms shifted just a little, and the pleading scream turned into a gurgle.
"Quiet...the lady is speaking," he said into the choking man's ear. "I'm sorry Doctor, but I am under no delusions that the security officer outside is going to shoot me. In this way, I provide myself with a modicum of protection. But from where I'm sitting I don't have a choice. I have a mission, and I intend to fulfil at every opportunity."
Bruke's shoulders twitched, and Koliar's body slumped bonelessly against his killer. With that out of the way he uncoiled his arms, and raised them above his head.
"One less to worry about."
Rena took a small step forward and had drawn her phaser when he killed her partner, seeing the Bolian slump to the ground. "Don't. Move," she ordered, aiming the phaser at the man's chest. Turning her head slightly, she told the two security officers to come closer and told them to shoot if the Klingon moved in the slightest. Her duty was now to her fellow officer; while she had a couple minutes before there was permanent damage, she didn't want to toy with that window. The Trill cautiously approached and knelt down to grab one of Koliar's hands to drag him out, or that was the idea. She couldn't find his hand, and spared a moment's glance to find it.
From behind her the Big officer snarled something biologically infeasible, but nothing happened.
"Make no mistake, we are at war, Doctor," Bruke said slowly, remaining still. "And as a prisoner of that war I will do everything in my power to be free and complete my mission. Your Federation lacks the moral character to see what it has done, and so it must be made to see."
After finding Koliar's hand, she glanced up. "What do you mean?" She asked, adjusting her grip. Pulling her partner back to the edge of the brig, she then took the moment to examine the damage he had done, her tricorder moving over the Bolian's neck.
"I will not let you murder more civilisations with your mocking cry of 'we come in peace'. You come with your ideas, your traditions, and supplant those of your newly acquired territory. And then when we rise against you, you beat us down and demand we thank you for giving us 'civilisation'. Who were your people before the Federation? Who could they have been were they not smothered under that blue flag!" Bruke was in full boil as the brig officer pushed past Rena with a second close on his heels. The two security men pinned the terrorist to the wall.
"Next time you look in the mirror doctor, look in your eyes and call yourself a slave! And see the truth in it!" he roared as a phaser blast a close range knocked him out.
Rena caught herself on the wall when the Klingon pushed past her, then turned to see him go out under a phaser hit. Thankful that the man was now quiet, she instructed the computer to transport Koliar to sickbay before approaching the prisoner. "He'll live," she said, her voice carrying a sort of disappointment. She looked back to where Koliar's body was, noticing the samples he had collected, and picked them up. "I have what we need," Rena told the security officers, before transporting to sickbay to see if she could try to revive the Bolian.
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