=Somewhere on board the RIS Dhelan'hraikhina=
The lights flickered along the narrow corridor. Hints of green and red could be seen
whenever and where ever light was present. A lone figure could be seen, dragging
itself along the deck to the perceived safety of a partially opened door. Before it
could pull itself into the adjoining room, it was dragged out by it's legs.
Captain Trent Rodgers stood over the figure before leaning forward and dragging it
up by its collar and slamming it into the bulkhead next to the door. Weapons fire
could be heard from other parts of the ship.
"Where is he!" Trent yelled at the bloodied romulan, who had an obvious wound in
the right side of his abdomen.
"I do not know who you are talking about," the romulan shot back defiantly.
"You know good and well who the hell I'm talking about."
The romulan remained silent, trying to hid his pain and discomfort.
Trent responded by slamming his back against the bulkhead a couple more time.
"Tell me! Tell me or I'll make the last few moments of your life a miserable living hell!"
When the romulan didn't speak, Trent slung him with all of his might to the deck,
causing a loud, sickening thud.
+tap+ "Reaver to Captain Rodgers."
Trent took a few deep breaths as he looked down at the romulan, who had passed out.
+tap+ "Rodgers here."
+tap+ "We have detected a human life sign approximately twenty two meters from your
position … in their medical bay."
+tap+ "I'm on it."
Trent pulled out his phaser and shot the romulan in order to stun him. He then made his
way to the location of the life sign reported by the pirate ship Reaver. When he arrived,
he quickly entered with his weapon at the ready. The room was darker than the corridor
with only one flickering light to his left.
It took some time for his eyes to adjust. When they did, he saw someone jump out at him,
knocking him and his attacker to the deck. The phaser flew from Trent's hand and
disappeared into a dark corner. The attacker attempted to slam his fist into Trent's face,
which he avoided, causing the fist to connect hard with the deck. Trent knocked the
attacker off of him, using his legs to wrap around the other person. Trent connected with
a few punches of his own to the face and chest of the attacker, who he could tell was a
human male … or at least someone pretending to be human.
The fight lasted for a few minutes, with both sides using whatever they could get their
hands on to gain the ultimate advantage. In the end, Trent was able to get behind the
attacker and slammed his head hard into the metallic side of the romulan version of a bio
bed. He then wrapped his right arm around the attacker's neck in a choke hold. The
attacker attempted to break free, but all of his efforts failed as Trent held on tightly until
they both collapsed to the deck.
Trent let loose of the unconscious figure and stood, only now feeling the full effects of the
preceding fight.
"Not bad for Starfleet security officer training," Trent heard from the direction of the door.
"Damn it, Sam, how long have you been standing there?" Trent asked, rubbing the back of
his next.
"A couple of minutes," Sam Wang, or better known as Tung Cho replied.
Trent and Sam grew up together on Earth when Trent had been forced to live with his
mother in Boston. The two, along with others, got into plenty of trouble and eventually,
Trent was forced to join Starfleet to go to prison. Sam went on to a criminal lifestyle where
he changed his name and eventually became one of the top, and most dangerous, crime
bosses in the galaxy.
Despite the fact they were on opposite sides of the law, Trent knew Cho was the one
person he could trust in situations like this. Cho had previously helped Trent uncover a secret
romulan alliance with the Nenon empire, which eventually led to their current predicament.
"Is that Hoack?" Cho asked.
Trent nodded.
Hoack was a Nenon who led up their special forces/police detachment … the Nex. The Nex was
responsible for tens, if not hundreds of millions of deaths in what they called a "cleansing of an
undesirable element of their population." Trent's father Richard Rodgers, captain of the
Galaxy-class Dunkirk, discovered this during the final phase of a Federation membership inquiry.
Hoack and the Nex had managed to get a bomb on board the Dunkirk, killing Richard and several
others, but the report had already been sent to Starfleet, resulting in numerous actions, including
an embargo and containment of the Nenon civilization to their own star system.
Later, Trent had uncovered the romulan alliance, unknown by most of the Nenon government,
during his investigation of the death of a Federation Councilman. Trent had been captured and
tortured by Hoack before being rescued by Cho in a firefight that resulted in the death of a Tal
Shair agent, among others. This led to the Nex being disbanded and Hoack being dishonored and
exiled from Nenon space.
This led to Hoack seeking his revenge against Trent's brother Rick. Hoack managed to use a
romulan device to turn himself, and an associate, into humans and gaining access to the
Chimera-B, and later Starbase Unity where they kidnapped Rick and used a Nenon device to wipe
his mind clean of everything the former CEO had learned since infancy.
"We have control of the ship and eliminated all resistance," Cho said. "We're salvaging anything
useful."
"How long?" Trent asked.
"About ten minutes."
"We're three light years inside Romulan space. Their friends could drop by anytime."
"I'm aware of this," Cho said. "I lost two ships in this endeavor. I plan on making up for it any way
possible. Don't worry. I don't plan on being here any longer than I have to. After all, unlike you, I'm
not at war with the rommies. They make good business partners and I have no interest in screwing
that up."
Trent shook his head, not wanting to know what kind of business dealings Cho had with the
Romulans.
"I'll have Hoack beamed over to the Reaver. We can deal with him there," Cho said.
- - - - - - - - - -
Twenty minutes later, the Reaver and six remaining pirate vessels from the battle with the
Dhelan'hraikhina were on their way to an area of space Cho controlled. Hoack, impersonating a
former Chimera security crewman, was tied to a chair in a bare room with a bright light shining down
on him. Trent and Cho entered, escorted by three rough-looking members of Cho's "crew."
"I'm just saying, we could have taken prisoners," Trent said. "We could have beamed them over
before we destroyed their ship."
"I don't have room for prisoners. This isn't a Federation starship," Cho replied.
As Cho and his people remained in a dark corner of the room, unseen, Trent grabbed a pitcher of
water and splashed it in Hoack's face. The Nenon/Human's eyes shot open, focusing on Trent.
"How did you find me?" Hoack asked. "By the way, how is you brother?"
"The Tal Shair are not the only ones with spies," Trent said. "And as for my brother … he's in
better shape than you're going to be in."
Hoack laughed, "So, you're going to torture me for what I did to him. Perhaps you believe I know
a way to reverse the effects. I can assure you, there is no … how would you say … ah, yes …
cure. Besides, you're a Starfleet officer … a captain at that. Congratulations, by the way.
Anyhow, Starfleet officers don't torture people."
Trent knelt down in front of Hoack, looking the Nenon in the eyes.
"There was a time where that wouldn't have mattered. I would have beaten the living hell out of
you for what you did to him."
Trent looked down at the deck, then back up at Hoack.
"But … but now, there's no way I could look into the eyes of my wife and children if I did what I
wanted to do to you," Trent said.
"Too bad," Hoack smiled.
"My friend on the other hand …" Trent stood as Cho walked into the light. "… has no such
reservations."
Hoack's eyes widened as seeing Cho.
"It seems he knows who I am," Cho said with a grin. "I can't help but to be touched."
"You did help me ruin his pathetic life," Trent responded.
Cho laughed, "I did enjoy that so."
Trent refused to grin as he returned his focus to the captive, "I believe your lying. I believe
there is a way to help my brother regain his mind. You're going to tell me."
Hoack just looked straight ahead with a silent stare.
"Have at him," Trent said, turning and walking to the door, pausing before leaving. "But don't
kill him."
"I have no intention of killing him … yet," Cho said as Trent left the room.
Trent took a seat outside the room, hearing sounds of screams as he looked over a large piece
of metal that had come loose during the battle. After a half hour, Cho emerged from the room
with blood on his hands and clothes.
"He's not talking. Give me a few days and he'll tell me whatever I want," Cho said.
"I didn't expect him to talk," Trent said, standing. "And I don't have days."
"So, on to Plan B, then?" Cho asked, looking more excited.
Trent nodded as they reentered the room.
Captain Trent Rodgers (npc by Rick)
Commanding Officer
U.S.S. Lancelot
And other npc's by Rick
Hoack and Tung Cho
Send e-mail anywhere. No map, no compass. Get your Hotmail® account now.
