OOC>> I tried to make this as less graphic as possible.
=Somewhere on board the pirate ship Reaver=
Trent and Tung Cho reentered the room where Cho had spend the past
half hour doing a number on Hoack.
And Hoack was a bloody mess with teeth missing, a broken nose and a
loose eye socket. Two of Cho's "crew" were on either side of the
human-looking Nenon, keeping watch on the prisoner. Hoack, though,
was in no condition to attempt any escape.
When Hoack saw Cho return, he forced a laugh.
"Is this the best you can do?" Hoack continued laughing.
"I didn't want to risk killing you," Cho replied. "Trust me ... I was being
easy on you."
Trent walked up to Hoack and knelt down in front of him.
"You tell me what I want to know, and I'll return you to your people,"
Trent said.
Hoack looked surprised.
"My people want nothing to do with me," Hoack grunted.
"On the contrary, they want you back," Trent said.
"What's the catch?"
"The catch is, a new government has been installed and want those
responsible for the genocide of their people brought to justice," Trent
explained.
"Justice ... what kind of justice?"
Trent stood and walked off to Hoack's side.
"Executions. You and the top people that were under your command
are to be executed."
"No trial?" Hoack asked.
"There was a trial. You missed it. Too bad for you," Trent said coldly.
Hoack laughed again, "Really, Captain Rodgers ... you're suppose to
offer something advantageous to me to get me to talk. I don't see
how this can benefit me."
"He has a point," Cho said.
Trent nodded, "Indeed."
The Lancelot captain then walked up to Cho before turning to face
Hoack. Trent simply nodded to Cho.
"Bring it out," Cho ordered one of his people, who walked out of the
room.
Trent then took a couple of steps toward Hoack.
"Have you ever heard the term ... an eye for an eye?" Trent asked.
Moments later, a device was rolled into the room. Hoack's good eye
widened in horror.
"That ... that was destroyed. It was destroyed during a Federation raid
on a Romulan outpost a few weeks ago. How ... why ...," Hoack
muttered.
"We know about the raid. Your associate, the one who helped you wipe
my brother's mind clean was killed in the same raid, if I'm not mistaken,"
Trent said.
"Yes ... that's correct. Then how do you have it?"
"It seems the new Nenon government wants to improve their relations
with the Federation," Trent lied. "They're tired of the embargo and the
blockade and all of that. So, they gave our people the specs to the device,
which we were able to build."
"That's ... that's ... that's not possible," Hoack stuttered. "They wouldn't."
"They did," Trent said.
"Then I'm sure they were able to tell you how it works," Hoack said.
"No. Unfortunately, those that knew anything about it had already been
executed. You're probably the last one alive to know anything about it.
Sure, our R&D and medical people may be able to figure it out in a few
years, but I have no interest in waiting that long."
Hoack stared at the device then at Trent.
"You know, if you use that on me, everything I know about the device will
be wiped clean from my mind."
'So there is some hope,' Trent thought.
"If I use it on you, then I will have given up on getting anything from you.
Now, do you prefer death or ..." Trent said, nodding to the device. " ...
something worse."
Hoack looked terrified, and as much as Trent wanted to smile, he didn't.
"What is it you humans said ... ah yes ... go to hell," Hoack continued to be
defiant, even though it looked as if his defenses were crumbling.
"Very well," Trent said, nodding to Cho.
Cho placed attachments to both of Hoack's temples.
"I'm glad you won't talk," Cho whispered with an evil grin. "I've been
wanting to test this on someone. There are a few members of the Orion
Syndicate that I plan on using this on in the near future."
Cho then took a long needle-like appendage from the device and moved
toward Hoack.
"Let me," Trent said, reaching for the long-needle.
Cho handed it to him as Trent walked behind Hoack and inserted it into the
back of his brain, causing Hoack to scream.
Trent then returned to Cho's side, who was now standing at the devices
controls.
"Whenever you're ready, Sam?" Trent said, referring to Cho's original name.
Cho nodded and placed his right hand on the main control.
"Stop!" Hoack yelled out. "I'll tell you want you want to know! I'll tell you
everything! There's just one condition."
"No conditions," Cho said.
"No, Sam ... let's here his proposal," Trent countered.
Cho shrugged.
"If I tell you how to help your brother, then you let me go."
"I ... I don't know," Trent said, then after a long moment knelt in front of
Hoack. "You tell me everything and I'll let you go."
Hoack nodded.
After the attachments were removed from Hoack's head, he talked into Trent's
recording device. Almost an hour later, Hoack finished, panting heavily from
talking nonstop.
"Is that everything?" Trent asked.
"Yes ... isn't it enough?"
"I suppose," Trent said, before turning and heading for the exit.
"We had a deal!" Hoack yelled out.
Trent turned, snapping his fingers as he faced Hoack.
"We did, didn't we?"
Trent walked back to Hoack and released him of his restraints. But, just as
Trent turned to leave the room, Cho's men tied Hoack back up.
"What! What's the meaning of this! We had a deal!"
Trent turned and faced Hoack.
"Yes, we did. And I held up my end of the deal. I released you. Unfortunately,
the deal was just between you and me," Trent said, then nodded to Cho. "My
friend Cho, on the other hand, made no such deal."
"But ... but ..." Hoack looked at Cho.
"The Nenons have a huge reward on your head. I plan on collecting," Cho said.
"You know, the funny thing is, the Nenons didn't know anything about the device,
let alone how it worked," Trent smiled. "Thankfully, the recording of what you
did to my brother gave us a good look at the device. We were able to make an
exact replica. A non working one, of course, but that's such a minor detail, don't
you think?"
Trent and Cho exited the room. Hoack's screams could be heard from out in the
corridor.
"You know, you're going to have a lot of explaining to do with Starfleet," Cho said.
"Whatever happens, happens," Trent replied, then handed Cho the recorder. "Now,
lets transmit this to Earth right away and hope they can get some use out of it."
Captain Trent Rodgers (npc by Rick)
Commanding Officer
U.S.S. Lancelot
and
other npcs by Rick
Tung Cho and Hoack
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